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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



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HEROES AND 
GREATHEARTS 

AND THEIR 
ANIMAL FRIENDS 

By JOHN T. DALE 



He prayeth well who loveth well 
Both man and bird and beast. 

He prayeth best who loveth best 
All things both great and small, 

For the dear God who loveth us, 
He made and loveth all. 

— Coleridge. 



D. C. HEATH & COMPANY 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



QLT21 
.IS 2, 



Copyright, 1908 and 1911 
By John T. Dale 



C(.A300cS45 



TO THOSE 

YOUNG IN YEARS 

OR YOUNG IN HEART 

WHO ASPIRE TO 

KINDLINESS WITHOUT OSTENTATION 

GENTLENESS WITHOUT SERVILITY 

THIS BOOK IS 

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 



That best portion of a good man's life, 
His little, nameless, unremembered acts 
Of kindness and of love. 

— Wordsworth. 



Among the noblest in the land, 

Though he may count himself the least, 
That man I honor and revere, 
Who, without frown, without fear, 
In the great city dares to stand 

The friend of every friendless beast. 

— Longfellow. 



PREFACE 

"The bravest are the tenderest; 
The loving are the daring." 

— Bayard Taylor. 

THE object of this book is to bring the reader into 
contact with some of the heroic and great-hearted of 
the race, who, by their relations with ^'man and bird and 
beast," have set an example of universal kindliness that 
should be an inspiration for all time. 

It aims also to foster a love of country, and to instil a 
desire to live worthily and unselfishly in pursuit of the 
highest ideals. 

In short, its great purpose is to inspire such ambition 
as can result only in the most patriotic, noble, and useful 
citizenship. 

Kindness to dumb creatures is but a stepping-stone to 
the habit and practise of kindness in all the relations of 
life. 

The book is adapted for the school, the public library, 
and the home. It is especially suitable for supplemen- 
tary reading in schools, and to aid teachers in their 
moral and humane instruction, nature study, and repro- 
duction work. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Heroes Edna Dean Proctor .... 1 

George T. Angell John T. Dale 2 

Prayer for Dumb Animals G. E. Goodrich 4 

Great Generals and their Horses ^ 

I. General Grant . 5 

II. General Sheridan 6 

III. General Lee 8 

IV. General Custer 10 

The Birds' Picnic Anonymous 12 

Queen Victoria • 14 

Ben Hazzard's Guests Anna P. Marshall .... 16 

Grover Cleveland and the Fawn 21 

The Duke, the Boy, and the Toad 24 

The Brown Thrush Lucy Larcom 26 

Daniel Boone 27 

Sir Moses Montefiore 30 

Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt 33 

Over in the Meadow Olive A. Wadsworth .... 34 

James Russell Lowell and the Adapted from "Our Dumb 

Robins Animals" 39 

''They are Slaves who fear to 

Speak" James Russell Lowell ... 40 

Gladstone's Pet 42 

Out in the Fields with God .... British Weekly 44 

Daniel Webster and the Woodchuck 45 

Only an Insect Anonymous ....... 46 

Prince Bismarck and his Dogs 48 

The Traveling Monkey Marion Douglas 50 

In Kindness John Greenleaf Whittier . . 51 

1 The selections not credited to others were written by John T. Dale. 

vii 



viii CONTENTS 

Sir Edwin Landseer 52 

Garibaldi, the Hero of Italy 54 

"When'er A Noble Deed IS Wrought" Selected 56 

The Bluebird Emily Huntington Miller . 57 

Good Night and Good Morning . . Lord Houghton 58 

Whittier and his Pets 60 

If Ever I See Selected 63 

The Barefoot Boy John Greenleaf Whittier . = 64 

The Family Horse . " 68 

The Arab to his Horse Bayard Taylor 70 

The Horse 72 

A Happy Family D. H. R. Goodale 74 

Rosa Bonheur 76 

Alexander Dumas and his Pets 78 

The Lamb Williarn Blake 80 

St. Francis and the Birds 82 

The Cry of the Little Brothers . . Etheldred Barry 84 

Audubon, the Friend of Birds 85 

Anselm and the Hare Gulielma Zollinger .... 88 

Alexander H. Stevens of Gerogia . 90 

Dick and Blind Charley 92 

Senator George F. Hoar and the 

Birds George F. Hoar 93 

The Truant Bird Anonymous 98 

Ivan and the Quail 100 

David Livingstone 103 

Spitz's Education Mrs. Charles Heaton . . . 106 

Some Birds' Nests Elizabeth Davis Fielder . . 108 

'■'One Law abo^t: THE Rest" .... N.P.Willis 109 

The Emperor's Bird's Nest .... Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 110 

Charles Dickens 112 

Bob White Lucy Larcom 114 

Robert Louis Stevenson 115 

My Kingdom Robert Louis Stevenson ... 118 



CONTENTS IX 

Robert and Elizabeth Barrett 

Browning 119 

To Flush, my Dog Elizabeth Barrett Browning . 122 

William Cullen Bryant 125 

Robert of Lincoln William Cullen Bryant . . 126 

The Grateful Elephant 129 

The Story OF the Little White Adapted from ''Our Dumb 

Kitten Animals" 130 

Twenty Froggies George Cooper 133 

Jet and the Boy Abbie F. Ransom 134 

To MY Dog Blanco J.G. Holland 138 

How THE Chinese Treat Animals 141 

Sir Walter Scott and his Dogs 142 

Saving Mother Selected 144 

The Cripple Boy and the Horse 146 

The Horse, the Dog, and the Man . S. E. Riser 148 

CowPER and his Hares 150 

The Merciful Sportsman Sam Walter Foss 153 

The Tamed Broncho 154 

The Real Good John Boyle O'Reilly .... 157 

Dogs of Long Ago 158 

Senator Vest's Speech on the Dog . George Vest 160 

Building OF THE Nest Margaret E. Sangster . . . 162 

George Stephenson and the Bird . Dr. Simeon Gilbert 164 

Be Kind Selected 166 

The Brave Kangaroo 167 

The Horse's Prayer Selected 168 

Wade Hampton and his Cat .... Adapted 171 

Louis Agassiz 172 

Raggles, the Indian Pony J. E. Stevens 174 

The Two Neighbors Ella Wheeler Wilcox .... 176 

The Swallow's Message 178 

Henry M. Stanley and the Cat 179 

Carrier Pigeons 180 



X CONTEXTS 

A Hero of Peace World's Chronicle .... 184 

Why the Quaker Bought a Horse . Eugene Sue 186 

Sir Isaac Newton and Diamond 188 

Who Owns the Farm Kate M. Post 190 

Some Italian Customs 192 

A Good Shot Joseph Kirkland 194 

The Bundle Was I . Adapted from "Our Duir>h 

Animals^' 197 

The Birds of Killingworth .... Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 198 

The Lion 200 

The Doctor's Horse 202 

Lord Shaftesbury 203 

Cheer Up Eva Best 204 

Robert Burns' Love for Animals 206 

When Old Jack Died James Whitcomb Riley . . . 208 

Dick Martin, the Brave Irishman 210 

Somebody's Mother Selected 212 

The Cattle Train Louisa M. Alcott 214 

They Didn't Think ........ Selected 217 

The Pig and the Dog 220 

Dogs at Work 222 

Lost — Three Little Robins .... Selected 225 

Lamartine's Last Shot Alphonse de Lamartine . . 228 

Canon Farrar at the Seaside . . . F. W. Farrar 230 

Little Gustaya Celia Thaxter 232 

How Animals Make their Toilets 234 

A Fable 235 

"There's no Dearth of Kindness" . Gerald Massey 236 

What Are Bands of :Mercy? 238 

Things to Remember 240 



HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

AND THEIR 

ANIMAL FRIENDS 



I 



HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

AND THEIR ANIMAL FRIENDS 

HEROES 

MOTHER Earth, are the heroes dead? 
Do they thrill the sc^ul of the years no more? 
Are the gleaming snows and the poppies red 

All that is left of the brave of yore? 
.Are there none to fight as Theseus fought, 

Far in the young world's misty dawn? 
Or teach as gray-haired Nestor taught? 
Mother Earth, are the heroes gone? 

Gone? In a grander form they rise. 

Dead? We may clasp their hands in ours, 
And catch the light of their clearer eyes, 

And wreathe their brows with immortal flowers. 
Where'er a noble deed is done, 

'Tis the pulse of a hero's heart is stirred; 
Wherever Right has a triumph won, 

There are the heroes' voices heard. 

Their armor rings on a fairer field 

Than the Greek and the Trojan fiercely trod; 
1 



HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

For Freedom's sword is the blade they wield, 
And the gleam above is the smile of God. 
So in his isle of calm delight, 

Jason may sleep the years away; 
For the heroes Hve, and the sky is bright. 
And the world is a braver world today. 

— Edna Dean Proctm-, 



GEORGE T. ANGELL 

TN the year 1868 there might have been seen on the 
^ road from Boston to Worcester, Massachusetts, two 
splendid horses which were being driven in a race. 
The roads were bad, and each horse drew a conveyance 
with two men in it for forty miles. Both horses were 
driven to death. 

A young lawyer of Boston, named George T. Angell, 
hearing of this terrible cruelty, wrote an account of it to 
a Boston paper, the result of which was the formation of 
a society to prevent cruelty to animals. 

Soon afterward he began publishing the paper Our 
Dumb Animals, the first paper in the world in the inter- 
ests of dumb creatures. He then gave up his successful 
law practice, so that he might devote his whole life to the 
one purpose of preventing cruelty and promoting kind- 
ness to animals. 

He distributed more than three million copies of 
Miss Anna Warner's book, Black Beauty. He organized 
more than seventy thousand Bands of Mercy, not only in 




GEORGE T. ANGELL 



4 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

our own country, but in China, India, Cuba, Porto 
Rico, South Africa, and other countries. It is not strange 
that such a man should be devoted to the cause of peace 
among the nations, and beheve that disputes should be 
settled by arbitration, in place of war with its infinite 
cruelties. 

He died recently, at the age of eighty-seven, having 
been actively engaged to the last in this glorious mission 
of kindness. 

The two poor horses, driven to death in the race, he 
said, were the cause which led him to devote his life to 
this work. 



PRAYER FOR DUMB CREATURES 

"ly /TAKER of earth, and sea, and sky, 
-^ -*- Creation's Lord and King, 
Who hung the starry worlds on high, 

And formed alike the sparrow's wing — 
Bless the dumb creatures of thy care. 
And listen to their voiceless prayer. 

For us they live, for us they die, 

These humble creatures Thou hast made; 

How shall we dare their rights deny, 
On whom Thy seal of love is laid? 

Teach Thou our hearts to hear their plea 

As Thou dost hear man's prayer to Thee. 

— G. E. Goodrich. 



GENERAL GRANT 



GREAT GENERALS AND THEIR HORSES 

I. GENERAL GRANT 

GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT was one of the 
bravest soldiers who ever hved. Yet he did not 
enjo}^ war, but did all in his power to end it as soon as 
possible, for, like almost every great and brave man, he 
could not bear to see any more suffering than necessary. 
One of his staff-ofhcers who was close to him during the 
Civil War, said that he never saw him angry but once, and 
that was when he found a soldier abusing a mule. Grant 
gave the soldier a scolding that he never forgot. 

When he was a boy he was sent to West Point, where 
the government has a great school to train young men to 
be soldiers. He was noted even then for his horsemanship. 
No animal was too wild for him to tame; yet he made 
the horses feel that he was not only their master but their 
friend. This skill and sympathy with horses came into 
use afterward, when Grant became a great general. It 
saved him at one time from being taken as a prisoner of 
war. 

After a hard battle near the banks of the Mississippi, 
Grant and his men were chased by the Confederates 
toward the river. They had to scramble down to some 
large boats in order to escape. 

The last boat was already leaving the shore when the 
captain saw the General coming up, just too late. The 
captain signaled the engineer to stop the boat, and 



6 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

every one collected breathless to see what might happen. 
The General did not have a minute to lose, and the horse 
seemed to know this as well as his master. The bank was 
high and very steep, but the horse put his front feet 
over the edge, gathered his hind legs under him, and slid 
down with the General on his back. The men had thrown 
a plank across to the shore. The plank was only one 
board wide, but the horse did not hesitate. He stepped 
carefully along it until he reached the deck, where the 
soldiers welcomed their General to safety. 

How well must the horse and General Grant have 
known each other! Such an act could not have been 
done unless each had perfect trust and confidence in 
the other. No one can tell how much we owe to that 
brave act of the horse, for if General Grant had been 
taken a prisoner or killed at that time, it might have 
changed the history of our country. 

II. GENERAL SHERIDAN 

^'Phil" Sheridan was the most brilliant cavalry leader 
in the Union army during the Civil War. One of the 
most famous battles in which he took part is described 
in the poem called Sheridan's Ride. 

The brave horse that Sheridan rode in that battle 
carried his master through all the raids and battles in 
which Sheridan took part to the very end of the war. 
The animal was named Black Horse, for he was as black 
as a crow. He was five years old at the time of Sheridan's 
famous ride. Sheridan would never sell his faithful friend, 



8 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

but took good care of him until he died, many years after 
the close of the war. Black Horse's bones are kept in a 
glass case in a museum near New York City, and often, on 
Memorial Day, some of Sheridan's old soldiers visit the 
museum to place flowers on the case. 

General Sheridan was a man of quick temper, but he 
was always kind and gentle to Black Horse. He could 
control him by a few words, so that under fire the horse 
was as cool as one of the General's trained soldiers. 

So the brave and dashing commander has left an 
example to all the boys in the country, and indeed to all 
the boys in the world, to be kind to animals. 

III. GENERAL LEE 

The greatest soldier in the Confederate army during 
the Civil War was Robert E. Lee. He did his duty as he 
saw it, and no one could have given his cause better 
service than he. He was handsome, gallant, and of such a 
kindly nature that wherever he went he made friends. 
As a lady who knew him said, ''Every one and everything 
loved him — his family, his friends, his servants, his 
horses, and his dog." 

Lee was intensely fond of animals. T\lien he was in 
the Mexican War he had with him a favorite dog named 
Spec, without which he would at times have been very 
lonely. He also had some cats, but Spec was so jealous 
of these that he would hardly let Lee look at them. 
Spec would not let his master out of his sight if he could 
help it. He used to lie in Lee's office from eight to four 



o 

O 

w 

H 
O 





f. 











10 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

without moving except to turn himself before the fire 
as the side away from it became cold. Lee said that some- 
times Spec would sit up and look at him so intently 
that for the moment he was actually startled. 

All through the Civil War Lee rode a famous horse 
named Traveller. This is how he described Traveller to 
his daughter, who was an artist: 

^'If I were an artist like you/' wrote Lee, ^'I would 
draw a true picture of Traveller, showing his fine propor- 
tions, muscular figure, deep chest, and short back, small 
head, broad forehead, deUcate ears, quick eye, small 
feet, and black mane and tail. Such a picture would 
inspire a poet to write about Traveller's endurance of 
hunger, thirst, heat, cold, and the dangers and sufferings 
through which he has passed. A poet might even imagine 
his thoughts through the long night marches and days 
of battle. But I am no artist and can only say that he 
is a Confederate gray." 

During the last year of the war the saddle was hardly 
off Traveller's back. It is no wonder that Lee had a great 
affection for this horse, and found him a comfort after 
the war was over. 

IV. GENERAL CUSTER 

Almost every boy has heard or read something of 
General Custer, the great Indian fighter, who became so 
famous during the Civil War. He was a commander 
of soldiers who ride horses and are called cavalry. 

General Custer was one of the bravest officers in the 



GENERAL CUSTER 11 

army. He seemed to be fond of making dashing charges 
on the enemy, as if he did not care for his hfe. 

After General Custer died, his widow wrote a book 
called ^' Boots and Saddles/' which tells about what he 
did when he was in the army. Sometime you will 
enjoy reading this book. This is what Mrs. Custer says 
of her husband: 

^' With his own horses, he needed neither spur nor whip. 
They were such friends of his, and his voice seemed so 
attuned to their natures, they knew as well by its inflec- 
tions as by the slight pressure of the bridle on their necks 
what he wanted. By the merest inclination on the 
General's part they either sped on the wings of the wind, 
or adapted their spirited steps to the slow movement of 
the march. It was a delight to see them together, they 
were so in unison, and when he talked to them, as though 
they had been human beings, their intelligent eyes 
seemed to reply. 

''As an example of his horsemanship, he had a way of 
escaping from the stagnation of the dull march, when it 
was not dangerous to do so, by riding a short distance in 
advance of the column over a divide, throwing himself 
on one side of his horse, so as to be entirely out of sight 
from the other direction, giving a signal that the animal 
understood, and tearing off at the best speed that could 
be made. The horse entered into the frolic with all the 
zest of his master, and after the race the animal's beautiful 
distended nostrils glowed blood-red as he tossed his head 
and danced with delight." 



12 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



THE BIRDS' PICNIC 

r I IHE birds gave a picnic; the morning was fine. 
-*- They all came in couples, to chat and to dine. 
Miss Robin, ]\Iiss Wren, and the two IMisses Jay 
Were dressed in a manner decidedly gay. 

And bluebird, who looks like a handful of sk}^, 
Dropped in with her spouse, as the morning wore by. 
The yellowbirds, too, wee bundles of sun, 
With the brave chickadees, came along to the fun. 

Miss Phoebe was there, in her prim suit of brown; 
In fact, all the birds in the fair leaiy town. 
The neighbors, of course, were politely invited; 
Xot even the ants and the crickets were slighted. 

The grasshoppers came — some in gray, some in green, 
And covered with dust, hardly fit to be seen. 
Miss Miller flew in with her gown white as milk, 
And Lady Bug flourished a new crimson silk. 

The bees turned out lively, the young and the old, 
And proud as could be, in their jackets of gold; 
But Miss Caterpillar, how funny of her. 
She hurried along in her mantle of fur. 

There were big bugs in plenty, and gnats great and small 
A very long story to mention them all. 
And what did they do? AVhy, they sported and sang, 
Till all the green wood with their melody rang. 




^^^^ 



GIRL WITH CAT 

Paul Hoecker 



14 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

QUEEN VICTORIA 

XTO queen who ever lived exerted a greater influence 
-^^ for good than this noble woman. As a daughter, 
wife, and mother, she set an example to all the women 
of the world, which will not be forgotten. 

When Queen Victoria was a little girl, her tutor wrote 
of her, ''She is very good-tempered and very affectionate 
and almost cries at any little account of distress which 
her books relate. She is much pleased with stories of 
kindness to animals, and shows the marks of a tender 
disposition. '^ 

When she was a small girl, one stormy day she was 
looking out of one of the front windows of Kensington 
Palace, when she noticed some distance away an old man 
standing under a tree, being soaked with rain. She said 
to her attendant: 

''Run to that poor man with an umbrella; he is very 
old and will catch cold." 

This was a little thing to do, but it showed how her 
kindly nature went out to help those in need. 

When she became queen, and was burdened with 
great care and labor, she did not forget the poor and 
unfortunate. She visited the families of those in her 
service, and at Christmas gathered the aged and infirm 
together and gave each a present from her own hands. 
She had sometimes as many as three hundred servants, 
yet they all received Christmas presents from her. 

It is not strange that she was kind to animals. When 




QUEEN VICTORIA 

Sir W. C. Ross, R.A. 



16 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

she took a walk, she always had two or three dogs with her. 
Among her favorite dogs were Scotch collies, German 
badger hounds, Scotch terriers, Russian sheep-dogs, 
Italian spitzes, pug-dogs and English terriers. She had 
beautiful horses, and they received the best of care. 
She would not allow them to be checked high nor let 
their eyes be injured by bhnders. 

The first society to promote kindness to animals was 
begun in England in 1832. By command of the Queen 
the society was called ''The Royal Society of the Preven- 
tion of Cruelty to Animals." Queen Victoria was a 
member for sixty years, and was always ready to assist 
by her counsel, influence, and gifts. Her example 
caused some of the richest and most honored men and 
women in England to take an active interest in the 
society and its work. 



BEN HAZZARD'S GUESTS 

"D EN Hazzard's hut was smoky and cold, 

-*-^ Ben Hazzard, half blind, was black and old, 

And he cobbled shoes for his scanty gold. 

Sometimes he sighed for a larger store 

Wherewith to bless the wandering poor; 

For he was not wise in worldly lore. 

The poor were the Lord's; he knew no more. 

'Twas very little that Ben could do, 

But he pegged his prayers in many a shoe, 

And only himself and the dear Lord knew. 



BEN HAZZARD'S GUESTS 17 

Meanwhile he must cobble with all his might 

Till — the Lord knew when — it would all be right. 

For he walked by faith, and not by sight. 

One night a cry from the window came — 

Ben. Hazzard was sleepy, and tired, and lame — 

'^Ben Hazzard,' open, ^^ it seemed to say, 

"Give shelter and food, I humbly praj^" 

Ben Hazzard lifted his woolly head 

To listen. "'Tis awful cold," he said. 

And his old bones shook in his ragged bed, 

''But the wanderer must be comforted." 

Out from his straw he painfully crept. 

And over the frosty floor he stepped. 

While under the door the snow wreaths swept, 

"Come in, in the name of the Lord,^' he cried. 

As he opened the door, and held it wide. 

A milk-white kitten was all he spied. 

Trembling and crying there at his feet. 

Ready to die in the bitter sleet. 

Ben Hazzard, amazed, stared up and down; 

The candles were out in all the town; 

The stout house-doors were carefully shut, 

Safe bolted were all but old Ben's hut. 

"I thought that somebody called,''^ he said; 

"Some dream or other got into my head; 

Come, then, poor pussy, and share my bed." 

But first he sought for a rusty cup, 

And gave his guest a generous sup. 

Then out from the storm, the wind, and the sleety 

Puss joyfully lay at old Ben's feet. 



18 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

In truth, it was a terrible storm. 

Ben feared he should never more be warm. 

But just as he began to be dozy, 

And puss was purring soft and cozy, 

A voice called faintly before his door: 

^' Ben Hazzard, Ben Hazzard, help I implore! 

Give drink, and a crust from out your store." 

Ben Hazzard opened his sleepy eyes, 

And his full-moon face showed great surprise. 

Out from his bed he stumbled again, 

Teeth chattering with neuralgic pain 

Caught at the door in the frozen rain. 

^'Come in, in the name of the Lord,^' he said, 

"With such as I have thou shalt be fed." 

Only a little black dog he saw 

Whining and shaking a broken paw. 

"Well, well," cried Ben Hazzard, "I must have dreamed; 

But verily like a voice it seemed. 

Poor creature," he added, with husky tone. 

His feet so cold they seemed like stone, 

"Thou shalt have the whole of my marrow-bone." 

He went to the cupboard and took from the shelf 

The bone he had saved for his very self. 

Then, after binding the broken paw. 

Half dead with cold went back to his straw. 

Under the ancient blue quilt he crept, 

His conscience was white, and again he slept. 

But again a voice called, both loud and clear: 
*'Ben Hazzard, in the name of the Lord, come here!^^ 



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PUSS IN BOOTS 

Frank Paton 



20 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Once more he stood at the open door 
And looked abroad, as he looked before. 
This time, full sure, 'twas a voice he heard; 
But all that he saw was a storm-tossed bird; 
With weary pinion and beaten crest, 
And a red blood-stain on its snowy breast. 
^'Come in, in the name of the Lord,'' he said, 
Tenderly raising the drooping head. 
And, tearing his tattered robe apart. 
Laid the cold bird on his own warm heart. 

The sunrise flashed on the snowy thatch, 
As an angel lifted the wooden latch. 
Ben woke in a flood of golden light. 
And knew the voice that had called all night, 
And steadfastly gazing, without a word, 
Beheld the messenger from the Lord. 
He said to Ben with a wondrous smile, 
(The three guests sleeping all the while), 
" Thrice happy is he that hlesseth the poor. 
The humblest creatures that sought thy door, 
For thy Lord's dear sake thou hast comforted.'^ 
''Nay, 'twas not much," Ben humbly said, 
With a rueful shake of his old gray head. 

"Who giveth all of his scanty store 
In the name of the Lord can do no more. 
Behold the Master, who waiteth for thee, 
Saith, 'Giving to them, thou hast given to me."' 
Then, with heaven's light on his face, ''Amen! 
I come in the name of the Lord," said Ben. 



GROVER CLEVELAND AND THE FAWN 21 

^^ Frozen to death, ^^ the watchman said, 

When at last he found him in his bed, 

With a smile on his face so strange and bright; 

He wondered what old Ben saw that night. 

Ben's lips were silent, and never told 

He had gone up higher to find his gold. 

— Anna P. Marshall. 



GROVER CLEVELAND AND THE FAWN 

/TROVER CLEVELAND was twice elected Presi- 
^-^ dent of the United States. Before that he was 
governor of the great state of New York. While he was 
governor he once spent his summer vacation in a beauti- 
ful hotel situated on a little lake in the Adirondack 
Mountains. 

The country was very wild and the woods were full of 
game, and many of the men stopping at the hotel were 
fond of hunting. One day some of these men were out on 
the lake in a boat when a beautiful little fawn, which had 
in some way been separated from its mother, came down to 
the lake and ran into the water and began to swim. 

The men in the boat rowed until they got between the 
fawn and the shore, and then they chased and soon 
overtook the little creature. They caught it and pulled 
it into the boat, but the poor fawn struggled so hard 
that it slipped away from them into the water and tried 
to escape. The men followed it and caught it again, 



22 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

and carried it alive to the hotel. They said they were 
going to kill it and have it served on the table. 

When the ladies of the hotel saw the soft, pleading 
eyes of the beautiful creature, trembling for its life, they 
took pity on it and asked that it be given its freedom. 
The men would not consent, but it was finally agreed 
that the question whether the fawn should be let loose 
should be left to a court to decide. 

Then a judge was selected and some one appointed to 
plead for the fawn, and another to take the side against it. 
Speeches were made on both sides and the question was 
submitted to the judge, who decided that the fawn 
should die. 

But the ladies were more determined than ever to 
save the fawn's life, so it was at last agreed to refer the 
matter to Governor Cleveland, and to let him decide 
whether the fawn should die or have a pardon. You 
know the governor of a state has the right to pardon those 
who have been found guilty of doing some wrong thing. 
Governor Cleveland granted a pardon to the fawn, and 
the little creature bounded away back again into the 
woods. 



There was never a night without a day, 

Nor an evening without a morning; 
And the darkest hour, the proverb goes, 

Is just before the dawning. 

— Mrs. M. A. Kidder. 



24 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



THE DUKE, THE BOY, AND THE TOAD 

rpHE Duke of Wellington was one of the most famous 
^ soldiers who ever lived. He was called the ^'Iron 
Duke" because it seemed as if nothing could make him 
afraid, no matter what dangers surrounded him. 

It was the great life purpose of Napoleon Bonaparte, the 
Emperor of France, to cross the narrow channel which sep- 
arates France from England, and to invade England with 
his armies and to conquer it. But the Duke of Welling- 
ton defeated Napoleon in the battle of Waterloo, in the 
year 1815, and so the French Emperor, instead of con- 
quering England, was sent as a prisoner to the lonely 
island of St. Helena to spend the rest of his life in exile. 

This great Duke was walking one day when he met a 
little boy crying bitterly. He stopped and asked him 
what was the trouble. The boy said he was going to be 
sent away to school the next day, and that when he went 
away there would be no one to take care of his pet toad. 
The great Duke told the little fellow to dry his tears, for 
he would take care of the toad. Sure enough, the boy 
took the toad to the Duke's grand residence, and it 
was carefully looked after. The Duke wrote letters to 
the little boy telling him about the toad. 

Such was the kindness of heart of this great man that 
he could not only take the time and trouble to comfort 
the heart of a little boy, but he could also show kindness 
to a despised toad. 




DUKE OF WELLINGTON 



26 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



THE BROWN THRUSH 

THERE'S a merry brown thrush sitting up in the tree. 
He's singing to me; he's singing to me! 
And what does he say, Uttle girl, httle boy? 
*'0h, the world's running over with joy! 
Don't you hear? Don't you see? 
Hush! Look! In my tree 
I'm as happy as happy can be!" 

And the brown thrush kept singing, 

^'A nest do you see 

And five eggs hid by me in the juniper tree? 

Don't meddle! Don't touch! Little girl, little boy, 

Or the world will lose some of its joy. 

Now I'm glad! now I'm free! 

And I always shall be 

If you never bring sorrow to me." 

So the merry brown thrush sings away in the tree 

To you and to me, to you and to me. 

And he sings all the day, little girl, little boy, 

'^Oh, the world's running over with joy! 

But long it won't be, 

Don't you know, don't you see? 

Unless we are as good as can be." 

— Lucy Larcom. 



DANIEL BOONE 27 



DANIEL BOONE 

A BOUT a hundred years ago a large part of our 
-^^ country was still an unbroken wilderness, where 
only wild animals and Indians lived. There were no 
railroads, no bridges, not even foot-paths through the 
dense, tangled forests. The white people lived almost 
entirely along the Atlantic coast, and knew practically 
nothing of the wild country that lay beyond the Allegheny 
Mountains. 

You may imagine how dangerous it was for men to 
go into such a country and try to make homes. Yet there 
were plently of bold hunters willing to risk their lives 
and endure terrible hardships in order to make the 
country safe for settlers who should come after them with 
their families. 

Daniel Boone was one of the most famous of these 
hunters. He loved the adventurous life of a pioneer 
and the solitude of deep forests. If all his adventures 
were written out, they would fill many books. 

Once, when Boone was exploring a river, Indians 
suddenly appeared. Boone found that his only chance 
of escape was to leap sixty feet down a steep bank. He 
landed in the top of a tree, slid down the trunk, and 
swam a stream at its foot. Even the Indians were afraid 
to follow! On another occasion he walked and ran one 
hundred and sixty miles to warn some settlers of an attack 
by Indians, 



28 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

When Boone was a boy he had Httle opportunity to 
study books, but he learned a great deal about nature. 
He knew every kind of tree in the forest, and the habits 
of animals and birds. He also learned about clouds and 
winds and understood the signs of approaching storms. 
He loved horses, and when but twelve years old could 
ride as well as his father, who had been familiar with 
horses all his life. 

When Boone grew up and went into the wilderness of 
Kentucky, often his only companion for months at a 
time would be his dog, that helped him hunt for food, 
and that saved his life more than once when Indians were 
stealing on his master unawares. If it had not been for 
the sympathy and affection of his faithful dog, Boone's 
life must often have been unbearably lonely. 

A writer has said, ^'We little think how much we owe 
to dogs in the settlement of our country. From the 
Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean the dog has driven back the 
wolf, the bear, the fox, and the panther, to make way for 
the sheep, the cow, and the horse. The dog will go 
everywhere that his master goes, to hunt for him, fight 
for him, and cheer him in his hours of discouragement. 
Many animals show a certain degree of affection for men, 
but dogs more than all, for they will often give their lives 
to save the lives of their masters." 



The wealth of a man is the number of things he loves 
and blesses, which he is loved and blessed by. — Carlyle. 




DANIEL BOONE 



30 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE 

nnmS famous lover of humanity was born in London, 
^ England, in the year 1784, and lived to the won- 
derful age of 101 years. He was in the full maturity of 
manhood at the time of the battle of Waterloo. 

He was a partner with Mayer Anselm Rothschild, the 
celebrated founder of the great banking business of the 
Rothschilds. By the time he was forty years of age he 
had accumulated a large fortune. He then retired from 
business and spent the remainder of his life in efforts 
to improve the conditions of his fellow men. At that 
time the Jews were greatly oppressed in many countries 
of Europe and the far East, and as Montefiore was a Jew, 
his heart went out in sympathy for his suffering people. 

He made seven journeys to the East in order to relieve 
the Jews from oppression, the last journey made when 
he was ninety- two years of age. He visited Poland, Russia, 
Roumania, Damascus, and Jerusalem, and through his 
efforts the condition of the Jews was greatly improved. 

But his good works were not confined to his own 
people, much as he did for them. In the year 1835 he 
was one of a group of men who gave seventy-five millions 
of dollars to the owners of slaves in the British West 
Indies, to compensate them for setting their slaves free. 
He was at the head of a committee which raised one 
hundred thousand dollars for the relief of two hundred 
thousand Christians in Syria. 



32 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

He was among the first to respond to every appeal 
without regard to reUgious differences. He visited the 
workhouses of his own neighborhood and personally 
distributed articles of comfort to the unfortunate inmates. 
The widows and orphans of fishermen were generously 
remembered by him. He made large collections for 
city charities, and wherever there was distress he was 
ready to help. 

He founded a Jewish college, a Jewish hospital, a 
free dispensary, free schools, and assisted largely in 
many other projects for the benefit of the people. 

At one time he spent three hours in interviewing one 
hundred forty-two prisoners in Newgate prison in London. 
At another time he was interested in a poor convict who 
was sentenced to death, as he thought, unjustly, and pro- 
cured a reprieve of his sentence, with the hope of obtain- 
ing his freedom. 

He not only gave money, but he gave himself — his 
time, his personal efforts and earnestness — and he kept 
up these works of benevolence to the end of his fife. 

We should of course expect that such a m^an would be 
kind to the animals under his care. For many 3^ears one of 
the dail}^ sights in London was Sir Moses driving through 
Hyde Park behind a beautiful pair of ponies, to which he 
was greatly attached. 

When this generous man, so kind to man and beast, 
died, there was such a funeral as is seldom seen, for 
thousands whom he had helped and befriended mourned 
his death. 



MR. AND MRS. ROOSEVELT 33 



MR. AND MRS. ROOSEVELT 

nn HE most costly feathers that are worn on ladies' 
hats are called ''aigrettes." They are taken from a 
beautiful bird called the white heron, which is found in 
Florida, in parts of South America, and in other warm 
countries. The aigrettes are taken from the mother 
birds while they are caring for their young ones, and when 
they are killed the young birds starve to death. 

At one feather sale in London in 1906, it is said there 
were seventy-two thousand aigrettes offered for sale. 
This means that seventy-two thousand mother birds were 
killed, and seventy-two thousand nests destroyed which 
would probably average at least three birds each. Thus 
the death of two hundred sixteen thousand young birds 
was caused to furnish feathers for that single sale. 

Mrs. Roosevelt will not wear the feathers of the heron. 
Mr. Roosevelt once wrote to the president of the Audubon 
Society, ^'Mrs. Roosevelt and myself sympathize particu- 
larly in your efforts to stop the sale and use of the so-called 
aigrettes, the plumes of the white heron." 

On another occasion Mr. Roosevelt wrote, ''Game 
butchery is as objectionable as any other form of wanton 
cruelty or barbarity," and he states that in his African 
expedition no animals were killed but those which were 
intended for preservation and exhibition in the National 
Museum at Washington, except a very few which were 
needed for food. He is a lover of birds, and has been 



34 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

the means of establishing refuges where birds could be 
saved from wholesale slaughter. 

In other ways he has shown long-continued activity in 
preventing cruelty. He believes, however, that in wild 
countries where lions, tigers, and other savage animals 
exist, they must be killed, as people cannot live there in 
safety unless this is done. 



OVER IN THE MEADOW 

OVER in the meadow, 
In the sand, in the sun, 
Lived an old mother toad 
And her little toadie one. 
''Wink," said the mother; 
''I wink," said the one; 
So she winked and she blinked 
In the sand, in the sun. 

Over in the meadow. 
Where the stream runs blue. 
Lived an old mother fish 
And her little jBshes two. 
''Swim," said the mother; 
"We swim," said the two; 
So they swam and they leaped 
Where the stream runs blue. 

Over in the meadow, 
In a hole in a tree, 




ROADSIDE AND MEADOW 

H. P. Barnes 



36 HEROES AXD GREATHEARTS 

Lived a mother bluebird 
And her httle birdies three. 
''Sing," said the mother; 
''We sing," said the three; 
So they sang and were glad 
In the hole in the tree. 

Over in the meadow, 

In the reeds on the shore, 

Lived a mother muskrat 

And her little rattles four. 

''Dive," said the mother; 

"We dive," said the four; 

So they dived and they burrowed 

In the reeds on the shore. 

Over in the meadow, 

In the snug beehive, 

Lived a mother honey bee 

And her little honeys five. 

"Buzz," said the mother; 

"We buzz," said the five; 

So they buzzed and thej^ hummed 

In the snug beehive. 

Over in the meadow. 
In a nest built of sticks, 
Lived a black mother crow 
And her little crows six. 
"Caw," said the mother; 
"We caw," said the six; 



OVER IN THE MEADOW 37 

So they cawed and they called 
In their nest built of sticks. 

Over in the meadow, 
Where the grass is so even, 
Lived a gay mother cricket 
And her little crickets seven. 
''Chirp," said the mother; 
"We chirp," said the seven; 
So they chirped cheery notes 
In the grass soft and even. 

Over in the meadow. 
By the old mossy gate. 
Lived a brown mother lizard 
And her little lizards eight. 
''Bask," said the mother; 
"We bask," said the eight; 
So they basked in the sun 
On the old mossy gate. 

Over in the meadow. 
Where the clear pools shine, 
Lived a green mother frog 
And her httle froggies nine. 
"Croak," said the mother; 
"We croak," said the nine; 
So they croaked and they splashed 
Where the clear pools shine. 

Over in the meadow, 
In a sly little den, 



38 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Lived a gray mother spider 
And her Httle spiders ten. 
"Spin," said the mother; 
''We spin/' said the ten; 
So they spun lace webs 
In their sly little den. 

Over in the meadow, 
In the soft summer even, 
Lived a mother firefly 
And her little flies eleven. 
''Shine," said the mother; 
"We shine/' said the eleven; 
So they shone like stars 
In the soft summer even. 

Over in the meadow, 
Where the men dig and delve, 
Lived a wise mother ant 
And her little anties twelve. 
"Toil," said the mother; 
"We toil," said the twelve; 
So they toiled, and were wise, 
Where the men dig and delve. 

— Olive A. Wadsworth. 



I WOULD not enter on my list of friends 

(Though graced with polished manners and fine sense, 

Yet wanting sensibility) the man 

Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm. 

— William Cowper. 



JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL AND THE ROBINS 39 



JAINIES RUSSELL LOWELL AND THE ROBINS 

TAMES RUSSELL LOWELL has taken his place as 
^ one of the foremost poets of America. He was not 
only a great poet, but one of the finest gentlemen America 
ever produced, and our country felt herself honored when 
she sent him to represent her as minister to England. 

This great and learned man had a kind and tender 
heart, and not only talked kindness but was ever ready 
to help the smallest and humblest of God's creatures. 

When he was professor of literature in Harvard College, 
he lived in a beautiful mansion in Cambridge, Massachu- 
setts. This elegant home was surrounded by large, grace- 
ful trees. Once Lowell happened to notice a nest of robins 
high up in one of the trees. He was puzzled by a con- 
stant fluttering of what seemed full-grown wings, whenever 
he went near the tree. The old birds guarded the nest and 
seemed very much excited when he went too near. 

At last he climbed up a ladder into the tree, in spite of 
the old birds, and then he soon found out what was the 
matter. The old birds when building the nest had 
found a long piece of string, which they wove loosely 
into the nest. Three of the young birds had got entangled 
in the string, so that when they became full grown they 
were not able to get loose. 

One was not hutt very much, another had twisted the 
string so tightly that one foot was curled up and had 
become paralyzed, so that it could not be used. The 



40 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

other bird was suffering so badly, because the string had 
worn through the flesh, that Mr. Lowell thought the 
kindest thing he could do was to kill it and put it out of 
misery. This he did, hurting it as little as possible. He 
cut the string, and then the old birds seemed to under- 
stand what he was doing. They stopped their cries and 
perched so near him that he could have touched them 
with his hands, all the time watching him. 

The young birds were so frightened that it took him 
some time to get them free from the tangle, but at last one 
of them flew away to a tree near by. The other, with 
only one good leg, jumped from the nest, spread out its 
wings, and tumbled to the ground without hurting itself 
very much. It hopped away on one leg, the old birds 
being near and ready to help it. In about a week Mr. 
Lowell saw the one-legged robin again in good spirits 
and able to balance itself with the lame foot. No doubt 
in time it got well. 

— Adapted from "Our Dumb Animals.^^ 



They are slaves who fear to speak 

For the fallen and the weak; 

They are slaves who will not choose 

Hatred, scoffing, and abuse 

Rather than in silence shrink 

From the truth they needs must think; 

They are slaves who dare not be 

In the right with two or three. 

— Lowell. 



42 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



GLADSTONE'S PET 

A17ILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE, the English 
* ^ statesman and scholar, like many other great 
rulers, was very fond of pets and very kind to them. 
Once, while he was visiting friends in Germany, a little 
black dog named Petz became very much attached to 
him. He seemed to think that Mr. Gladstone went to 
Germany especially to play with him. In the morning 
the little dog would lie before the door of Mr. Gladstone's 
room, waiting for him to come out and take a w^alk. 
When his friend appeared, Petz was perfectly happy, for 
Mr. Gladstone would throw his cane as far as he could 
and Petz would run for it and bring it back to him. They 
would keep this up until it seemed as if both would be 
tired out. 

After awhile it was time for Mr. Gladstone to go back 
to his home in England, for he had a very important 
office and could not take long vacations. Gladstone 
thought so much of the little black dog that he wanted 
to take him along, and so he arranged with his friends 
to take Petz back to England. Mr. Gladstone lived in 
a grand house called Hawarden Castle, and there Petz 
became one of the family. 

Mr. Gladstone was fond of chopping down trees for 
exercise, as he thought it made him strong and healthy. 
Of course he could not go out without Petz, who would 
be watching and waiting for his master. Whenever 




WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE 



44 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Mr. Gladstone chopped a tree and the chips flew about, 
Petz would jump for them, bring them in his mouth, and 
lay them at his master's feet. Then Gladstone would 
take the chips and throw them as far as he could, so that 
his little friend might chase them and bring them back. 

This is a fine example of the affection for animals 
which many great and wise men have. 



OUT IN THE FIELDS WITH GOD 

THE little cares that fretted me, 
I lost them yesterday 
Among the fields above the sea, 
Among the winds at play; 

Among the lowing of the herds, 

The rustling of the trees. 
Among the singing of the birds. 

The humming of the bees. 

The foolish fears of what may happen, 

I cast them all away 
Among the clover-scented grass. 

Among the new-mown hay; 

Among the husking of the corn, 

Where drowsy poppies nod, 
Where ill thoughts die and good are born. 

Out in the fields with God. 

— British Weekly. 



DANIEL WEBSTER 45 



DANIEL WEBSTER AND THE WOODCHUCK 

T^ANIEL WEBSTER, who was one of our most 
^^ gifted orators and statesmen, was as good a judge 
of cattle as could an^^where be found. He knew all of 
his own by name, and kept track of their ages and pecu- 
liarities. When he came home from Washington, where 
for many years he was a senator, his cows and horses 
were among the first objects of his thought. As soon as 
he had greeted the members of his family, he would go 
out to the barn and see his animals, going from one to 
another, patting and stroking their faces, and feeding 
them from his hands. 

Webster's father was a brave soldier in the Revolution- 
ary War. After the war closed he settled on a farm in New 
Hampshire, where he brought up his family. Daniel had 
a brother named Ezekiel, who was called ^^Zeke.'^ 

One day Zeke caught a woodchuck, and brought it 
home, intending to kill it. When Daniel saw the bright 
black eyes of the little animal, which seemed to ask him 
to take its part, his heart was filled with a great pity. 
He tried to persuade Zeke to let the woodchuck go. 
The two brothers could not agree, so they asked their 
father what he thought about it. 

Mr. Webster said that Zeke should give his reasons why 
he thought the woodchuck should be killed, and Daniel 
should tell why he thought it should be set free. The father 
would be the judge and decide which reasons were the best. 



46 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Zeke then said that the woodchuck stole his living 
from the clover field and cabbage patch, that his skin 
was valuable, and could be made into a warm winter 
cap, and that the woodchuck was of no use, so might as 
well be killed. 

Daniel then gave his reasons why the woodchuck 
should be allowed to live. He said that life was God- 
given, and that we had no right to take it, even from a 
woodchuck, unless it is necessary. He made such a 
strong appeal to save the woodchuck that his father's 
heart was touched. When Daniel got through the tears 
were rolling down Mr. Webster's cheeks, and he said: 

''Zeke, Zeke, let that woodchuck go." 



ONLY AN INSECT 

ONLY an insect; yet I know 
It felt the sunlight's golden glow, 
And the sweet morning made it glad 
With all the little heart it had. 

It saw the shadows move; it knew 
The grass blades glittered, wet with dew; 
And gaily o'er the ground it went; 
It had its fulness of content. 

A being, formed of larger frame. 
Called man, along the pathway came. 
A ruthless foot aside he thrust, 
And ground the beetle into dust. 



48 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



PRINCE BISMARCK AND HIS DOGS 

pRINCE BISMARCK was a celebrated German 
"*■ statesman. He might be called the maker of the 
great German Empire, which is now one of the most 
powerful nations in the world. He was the means of 
uniting a number of small countries into one, and thus 
making a united Germany. All Germans may well be 
proud of what he did for their country. 

This great man w^as sometimes called the man of iron 
because he was so stern and hard to bend. But for all 
that he had a kind and tender heart. He was one of the 
kindest of men to his wife and children, and he always 
had a tender place in his heart for animals, especially 
dogs. It seemed as if he could not live without his pets. 
Even when he was a student in college, he had an immense 
dog for his constant companion. 

Once when Bismarck had done something against the 
rules of the college, he was called before a teacher for 
correction, and his great dog went into the room with him. 
The teacher was so startled at the sight of the dog that 
he got behind a chair and would do nothing until the 
animal was taken out of the room. 

All through his life Prince Bismarck had his dogs. 
Wherever he went they went w^ith him. They shared 
his walks, his rides, his business hours, and his meals; 
and they kept guard at his room at night. He loved 
them and made them his friends. 



50 



HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



iwsm 




THE TRAVELING MONKEY 

MY master grinds an organ 
And I pick up his money, 
And when you see me doing it 
You call it very funny. 

But though I dance and caper, still 

I feel at heart forlorn, 
I wish I were in monkey-land, 

The place where I was born. 

There grow the great green cocoanuts 
Around the palm tree's crown; 

I used to climb and pick them off. 

And hear them — crack ! — come down. 



There all day long the purple figs 
Are dropping from the bough; 

There hang the ripe bananas, oh, 
I wish I had some now. 



IN KINDNESS 51 

I'd feast, and feast, and feast, and feast. 

And you should have a share. 
How pleasant 'tis in monkey-land! 

Oh, would that I were there! 

On some tall tree-top's highest bough, 

So high the clouds would sail 
Just over me, 1 wish that I 

Were swinging by my tail. 

I'd swing, and swing, and swing. 

How merry that would be! 
But, oh, a traveling monkey's hfe 

Is very hard for me. 

— Marion Douglas. 



IN KINDNESS 

A LITTLE word in kindness spoken, 
A motion or a tear. 
Has often healed the heart that's broken, 
And made a friend sincere. 

Then deem it not an idle thing 

A pleasant word to speak; 
The face yoii wear, the thought you bring, 

A heart may heal or break. 

— Whittier. 



52 ' HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



1 



SIR EDWIN LANDSEER 

OIR EDWIN LANDSEER was an English artist who 
^ became very famous as a painter of animals. His 
father was an artist and engraver, and when he found 
that his little son liked to draw pictures, he encouraged 
him to do so. 

When the little boy was only five years old, he drew 
the picture of a foxhound from life, and it was such a 
good picture that it is now kept in the South Kensington 
Museum, in London, to be shown to visitors. When 
he was ten years old he drew a beautiful picture of a 
''Brown Mastiff, Sleeping," which was so fine that it 
afterward sold for three hundred and fifty dollars. 

Landseer was very quick at his work and this is why he 
was able to paint so many pictures, which are among 
the finest in the world. He could draw with both hands 
at once. 

You may be sure that Landseer was very fond of 
animals for wherever he went he had a troop of dogs 
with him. He could tell animal stories by the hour, 
and was so kind and pleasant to all about him that he 
was a favorite everyw^here, from the palace of Queen 
Victoria to the humble cottage. 

During his last illness his dog was with him nearly all 
the time. At one time, when a friend called to see him, 
he, hugged his dog and said to him, ''No one can love me 
as thou dost." 



54 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



GARIBALDI, THE HERO OF ITALY 

TN Italy a group of men were standing on a dock when 
by accident a woman fell into the water. None of 
the men dared to risk their lives in an attempt to save her, 
and in a few moments she would have drowned. 

Just at this time a boy ran up and sprang into the 
water like a flash. He swam to the woman, seized her, 
and kept her from going down until help came and she 
was safe. The boy was pulled out of the water, too, and 
did not seem to have received any harm from his brave 
act. 

Everybody wondered why he should take such a risk 
to save a woman he had never seen before. The reason 
was that the instinct of kindness was born with him, as 
was shown in all his after life. 

This boy, whose name was Garibaldi, became one of 
the heroes of the world, and the liberator of his. people 
from wrong and oppression. 

Italy had been ruled for hundreds of years by men 
who were often cruel and unjust. Most of the people 
were so poor that they could scarcely live, because the 
taxes were so heavy that they took from them almost 
their last penny. The people had endured this from 
generation to generation because there was no one bold 
enough to lead them in rising up against it. 

When Garibaldi became a man he had the same spirit 
which prompted him as a boy to risk his hfe to save the 




I 



56 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

drowning woman. He determined to devote his life to 
freeing his country from oppression. He found a few 
brave men who felt as he did, and he became the leader 
of a little band who were willing to die, if need be, for their 
country. To tell what dangers they faced and what 
wonderful escapes they had, would take days and days. 
It seemed as if God saved their lives time and again, 
for every effort was made to catch and kill them. 

They had scarcely any money to buy supplies of food, 
clothing, and ammunition. Often they could not get 
enough to eat, and they suffered greatly from cold. 
They had no uniforms save that all who could, wore red 
flannel shirts; but the daring Garibaldi moved about so 
quickly, and made so many attacks on the enemy, that 
at last, after many years of terrible struggle, he was vic- 
torious and his country was made free. 

He was ready to give his life for others, and in that he 
set us a fine example. We may never be called upon to 
do what he did, but we can have the same spirit of help- 
fulness that he showed throughout his life. 



''Whene'er a noble deed is wrought, 
Whene'er is spoken a noble thought. 

Our hearts in glad surprise 

To higher levels rise; 
The tidal wave of deeper souls 
Into our inmost being rolls, 

And lifts us unawares 

Out of all meaner cares." 



THE BLUEBIRD 57 



THE BLUEBIRD 

I KNOW the song that the bluebird is singing, 
Out in the apple tree where he is swinging; 
Brave little fellow! the skies may be dreary! 
Nothing cares he while his heart is so cheery. 

Hark ! how the music leaps out from his throat ! 
Hark! was there ever so merry a note? 
Listen a while and you'll hear what he's saying, 
Up in the apple tree swinging and swaying. 

''Dear little blossoms down under the snow, 
You must be weary of winter, I know. 
Hark! while I sing you a message of cheer! 
Summer is coming! and springtime is here! 

" Little white snowdrop! I pray you arise; 
Bright yellow crocus! Come, open your eyes; 
Sweet little violets, hid from the cold. 
Put on your mantles of purple and gold; 
Daffodils! daffodils! say, do you hear? 
Summer is coming! springtime is here!" 

— Emily Huntington Miller. 



58 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD MORNING 

A FAIR little girl sat under a tree, 
Sewing as long as her eyes could see; 
Then smoothed her work and folded it right, 
And said, "Dear work, good night, good night!" 

Such a number of rooks came over her head. 
Crying, "Caw! Caw!" on their way to bed; 
She said, as she watched their curious flight, 
"Little black things, good night, good night!" 

The horses neighed, and the oxen lowed, 
The sheep's "Bleat! Bleat!" came over the road, 
All seeming to sa}^, with a quiet delight, 
"Good little girl, good night, good night!" 

She did not say to the sun, "Good night!" 
Though she saw him there like a ball of light; 
For she knew he had God's time to keep 
All over the world, and never could sleep. 

The tall pink foxglove bowed his head; 
The violets curtsied and went to bed; 
And good httle Lucy tied up her hair, 
And said, on her knees, her favorite pra^^r. 

And while on her pillow she softly lay, 
She knew nothing more till again it was day; 
And all things said to the beautiful sun, 
"Good morning, good morning! our work is begun!" 

— Lord Houghton. 




FAMILY CARES 

E. C. Barnes 



60 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



WHITTIER AND HIS PETS 

^^ rHEN the poet Whittier was a boy, he hved on a 
^ ^ farm, and every hving thing there he loved. 
The birds he knew by name, and he watched them build 
their nests and feed their young. He learned their habits, 
knew their songs and calls, and fed them in the cold 
weather. 

In those days oxen were often used instead of horses; 
and the oxen with which young Whittier worked became 
his pets. They were so tame and gentle that he used 
to sit on their heads wdth his legs hanging over their 
faces, and then lean back on their horns and take a rest. 
One day he took a bag of salt to give to the cattle and 
they liked the salt so much that they became crazy to 
get it. One big ox ran toward him so fast that he could 
not stop himself, so he gave a big leap and jumped 
over young Whittier's head and probably saved the 
boy's life by doing so. 

Another day he was induced by some neighborhood 
boys to go turtle hunting. After securing a large one, 
the boys bent low a branch of a tree, tied the turtle fast, 
and then let the limb spring up. The bo^^s went home 
and left the turtle swinging in the air; but Greenleaf 
couldn't sleep after he went to bed, for he kept thinking of 
the poor turtle. About midnight the timid little fellow 
got up, dressed, and went alone to the woods. He 
released the turtle, put it back into the brook, and then 



62 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

the future poet went back to bed with a happy heart 
and went to sleep. 

When Whittier became a man, he was more fond of pets 
than ever. One day his gardener brought him a squirrel 
he had caught. Mr. Whittier got him a nice cage and 
it was not long before the squirrel was jumping all about 
the room. It would run up Mr. Whittier's back, perch 
upon his coat collar, and look into all his pockets to find 
nuts. You may be sure that it alw^ays found some. 
When Mr. Whittier took a nap on his couch in the 
day time, the squirrel would jump up and gnaw the 
buttons off his coat. 

Mr. Whittier had a pet mocking-bird which he called 
David. This bird was a fine singer, and Mr. Whittier 
was never tired of listening to his melody. The favorite 
perch of this bird was on the top of the poet's head, but 
Whittier did not mind that, for he liked David so well 
that he was quite willing to let him sit where he pleased. 

But you could never guess what other pet he had. It 
was a little bantam rooster, which was often seen perched 
on the poet's shoulders, and which liked to be buttoned 
up inside his overcoat. The poet was an early riser, 
but his niece, who lived with him, often slept late, and 
sometimes he would put the bantam on top of her door, 
and its crowing would wake her. 

Whittier also had a dog which he named ''Robin 
Adair," after a beautiful song. Once a famous singer 
called on him, and he asked her to sing for hini. She 
went to the piano and began to sing ''Robin Adair." 



IF EVER I SEE 63 

The dog was in another room, but when he heard his 
name in the song, he went to the singer and sat down 
at her side. When she had finished he placed his paw in 
her hand and hcked her cheek. As long as she was there 
he was with her, indoors and out, and when she went 
away he carried her bag in his mouth to the gate, and 
seemed distressed to have her go. 



IF EVER I SEE 

IF ever I see, 
On bush or tree, 
Young birds in their pretty nest, 
I must not in play 
Steal the birds away, 

To grieve their mother's breast. 

My mother, I know. 
Would sorrow so. 

Should I be stolen away; 
So I'll speak to the birds 
In my softest words, 

Nor hurt them in my play. 

And when they can fly 
In the bright blue sky. 

They'll warble a song to me; 
And then, if I'm sad. 
It will make me glad 

To think they are happy and free. 



64 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

THE BAREFOOT BOY 

BLESSINGS on thee, little man, 
Barefoot boy, with cheek of tan! 
With thy turned-up pantaloons, 
And thy merry whistled tunes; 
With thy red lip, redder still 
Kissed by strawberries on the hill; 
With the sunshine on thy face, 
Through thy torn brim's jaunty grace; 
From my heart I give thee joy, — 
I was once a barefoot boy. 
Prince thou art — the grown-up man 
Only is republican. 
Let the million-dollared ride ! 
Barefoot, trudging at his side. 
Thou hast more than he can buy 
In the reach of ear and eye — 
Outward sunshine, inward joy — 
Blessings on thee, barefoot boy! 

Oh, for boyhood's painless play. 
Sleep that wakes in laughing day, 
Health that mocks the doctor's rules, 
Knowledge never learned at schools. 
Of the wild bee's morning chase. 
Of the wild flower's time and place, 
Flight of fowl and habitude 
Of the tenants of the wood ; 
How the tortoise bears his shell, 
How the woodchuck digs his cell, 
And the ground-mole sinks his well; 




THE BAREFOOT BOY 

Wallace Nutting 



66 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

How the robin feeds her young, 
How the oriole's nest is hung; 
Where the whitest hhes blow, 
Where the freshest berries grow. 
Where the ground-nut trails its vine, 
Where the wood-grape's clusters shine; 
Of the black wasp's cunning way. 
Mason of his walls of clay, 
And the architectural plans 
Of gray hornet artisans; 
For, eschewing books and tasks. 
Nature answers all he asks; 
Hand in hand with her he walks. 
Face to face with her he talks. 
Part and parcel of her joy — 
Blessings on the barefoot boy! 

Oh, for boyhood's time of June, 
Crowding years in one brief moon. 
When all things I heard or saw. 
Me, their master, waited for. 
I was rich in flowers and trees. 
Humming birds and honey bees; 
For my sport the squirrel played. 
Plied the snouted mole his spade; 
For my taste the blackberry cone 
Purpled over hedge and stone; 
Laughed the brook for my delight 
Through the day and through the night, 
Whispering at the garden wall. 
Talked with me from fall to fall; 



THE BAREFOOT BOY 67 

Mine the sand-rimmed pickerel pond, 
Mine the walnut slopes beyond, 
Mine, on bending orchard trees, 
Apple of Hesperides! 
Still as my horizon grew, 
Larger grew my riches too; 
All the world I saw or knew 
Seemed a complex Chinese toy. 
Fashioned for a barefoot boy! 

Cheerily, then, my little man. 
Live and laugh, as boyhood can! 
Though the flinty slopes be hard. 
Stubble-speared the new-mown sward. 
Every morn shall lead thee through 
Fresh baptisms of the dew; 
Every evening from thy feet 
Shall the cool wind kiss the heat. 
All too soon these feet must hide 
In the prison cells of pride. 
Lose the freedom of the sod. 
Like a colt's for work be shod. 
Made to tread the mills of toil. 
Up and down in ceaseless moil; 
Happy if their track be found 
Never on forbidden ground; 
Happy if they sink not in 
Quick and treacherous sands of sin. 
Ah! that thou couldst know thy joy. 
Ere it passes, barefoot boy! 

-^John Greenleaf Whittier. 



68 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



THE FAMILY HORSE 

A T Duxbury, Massachusetts, which is not very far I 

-^^ from Plymouth Rock, may be seen, near the 1 



seashore, a brick monument, eight feet high, with a large 
wooden ball on the top. On the side facing the sea is 
a slate with this inscription : 

''All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul." 
Here lies buried 
Honest Dick, 
Who 
Faithfully served three generations. 
This noble horse was born upon Powder Point, 
A.D. 1817. 
Here lived and here died, 
A.D. 1846. 

What words can describe the services of such a' faithful 
creature? What money could repay them? To funerals, 
weddings, picnics, parties, school, market, year after 
year, he plodded through mud and sleet and snow and 
dust, until age compelled the tired body to enter on its 
long final rest. 

And this brief history could be multiplied by thousands 
of families, all over the land, who have enjoyed the same 
faithful service, but are more forgetful of its value. 



I 



70 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



THE ARAB TO HIS HORSE 

COME, my beauty! come, my desert-darling! 
On my shoulder lay thy glossy head! 
Fear not, though the barley-sack be empty, 
Here's the half of Hassan's scanty bread. 

Thou shalt have thy share of dates, my beauty ! 

And thou know'st my water-skin is free; 
Drink and welcome, for the wells are distant, 

And my strength and safety he in thee. 

Bend thy forehead, now, to take my kisses! 

Lift in love thy dark and splendid eye; 
Thou art glad when Hassan mounts the saddle — 

Thou art proud he owns thee; so am I. 

Let the Sultan bring his boasted horses, 
Prancing with their diamond-studded reins; 

They, my darling, shall not match thy fleetness. 
When they course with thee the desert plains. 

We have seen Damascus, O my beauty! 

And the splendor of the Pashas there; 
What's their pomp and riches? why, I would not 

Take them for a handful of thy hair! 

— Bayard Taylor. 



72 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

THE HORSE 

TN Russia people do not use blinders to cover the eyes 
of horses, and so they seldom get frightened. They 
know when to start, because they can see when the people 
have got into the carriages, and when they hear noises 
they can see the cause. 

Blinders were invented by an English nobleman to 
hide a defect in the eyes of a valuable horse, and then 
they were found to be a good place for the display of the 
coats of arms of the nobility, so they came into fashion. 
They injure the eyes of horses, and have caused thou- 
sands of accidents, because horses with blinders cannot 
see behind them. In America a great many people are 
beginning to train their horses to go in carriages without 
blinders — just as they do in saddles without blinders. 
By and by they will be out of fashion, and horses, like all 
other animals, will be permitted to use their eyes. 

It is a great cruelty to a horse to tie his head back with 
a tight check-rein, for he cannot breathe so freely, he 
cannot draw so heavy a load, nor do it so easily. Many 
horses suffer great pain and become diseased because of 
their cruel check-reins. If a boy had to draw or push a 
heavy sled or wheelbarrow with a bit in his mouth fas- 
tened to his back, pulling his head away back of his 
shoulders so that he could not lean forward, then he would 
know what a horse suffers with a tight check-rein. A 
check-rein, if used at all, should always be so long that 
when a horse draws a heavy load up a steep hill, he can 







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74 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

put his head as far down as he would put it if he did not 
have a check-rein. 

Some people, when their horses become old, or sick, 
or lame, sell them for a small sum to cruel men who beat 
them, and kick them, and starve them, and otherwise 
abuse them, and then the poor horses have a hard time 
until they die. A good horse, that has worked faithfully 
for his master until he is worn out, never ought to be 
sold. When he has become too old or worn out to serve 
a good and merciful master, then he should be killed, 
in a merciful way, without pain. 



A HAPPY FAMILY 

'nn WAS a bitter cold morning; the new-fallen snow 

-i- Had pierced every crack where a snowflake could go; 
The streams were all solid, the ice sharp and clear; 
And even the fishes were chilly, I fear. 

Almost all the wild creatures were troubled and cold. 
And sighed for sweet summer, the shy and the bold; 
But one thrifty family, as you must know, 
Was breakfasting merrily under the snow. 

Close by a tall tree, in a hole in the ground. 
Which led to a parlor, with leaves cushioned round, 
Five jolly red squirrels were sitting at ease, 
And eating their breakfast as gay as you please. 

— D. H. R. Goodale. 




A HAPPY FAMILY 



S. J. Carter 



76 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



ROSA BONHEUR 

T> OSA BONHEUR was a French artist and one of the 
^ ^ most gifted painters who ever Uved. Her father 
was an artist with a large family, and- he had a hard 
struggle to take care of all his children. So Rosa began 
to draw pictures when she was a young girl in order 
to help support the family. 

This was no hardship for her, for she delighted to draw 
and paint, and would sing at her work all day long. 
When she was seventeen years of age she began to study 
animals, and to find them she made trips in the fields, in 
the woods, and among lonely, steep mountains. At one 
time the family had a pet sheep which they kept in their 
apartment, on the sixth floor of the building where they 
lived. 

After a time Mr. Bonheur died from overwork and then 
the burden laid on Rosa was heavier than ever. But 
her brave spirit never faltered, and after a time she 
painted many pictures which made her famous. Some of 
the best are ^^The Horse Fair," ^^The Horse to be Sold," 
''Horses Leaving the Watering-place," "A Flock of 
Sheep," and ''The Hay Field." 

We should remember her, not only for her wonderful 
pictures, but also for her kind heart, for her cheerful 
willingness to help her family, and for her great love of 
animals. 



78 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



ALEXANDER DUMAS AND HIS PETS 

A LEXANDER DUMAS was a famous French writer 
'^■^ of stories. He wrote many books which pleased 
the people so much that they had a very large sale. This 
made him rich. He had a fine estate in the country, 
which he named ''Monte Cristo/' after one of his books. 
He liked company and loved to have people visit him 
from all parts of the world. 

He was very fond of pets and had some of the strangest 
that you can imagine. Among them were an African 
vulture, two big bright-colored parrots, a pheasant, a 
rooster, an Angora cat, and three monkeys. All of these 
had long names, which their master had taught them to 
know. Dumas took the best of care of his pets, and the 
many entertaining stories that he told about them show 
that he had the keenest sympathy for one and all. 

One day Dumas was walking past a large fish market in 
Paris. As he glanced through the window, he noticed a 
customer pick up a live tortoise and turn it about in his 
hands. Dumas felt sure that the man intended to make 
the tortoise into turtle soup. Instantly Dumas' sym- 
pathy was aroused in behalf of the innocent tortoise. 
He went into the shop, said a word to the shopkeeper, 
whom he had known for many years, and purchased the 
tortoise, while the customer was still hesitating as to 
whether he wanted it. Dumas took the tortoise home 
and found it a very amusing addition to his pets. 



80 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Dumas also had a big, intelligent, Scotch pointer dog, 
of which he was fond. The dog, like his master, loved 
company. He would sit out in the road, watching for 
passing dogs, which he would take to the house, and 
he kept this up until there were thirteen dogs living at 
Monte Cristo. The gardener then complained to his 
master, and asked him whether he should not whip 
twelve of the dogs and send them away. Mr. Dumas 
said: 

"You see, when the good God gives us riches, a fine 
house and position, he also imposes charges upon us. 
Since the dogs, which after all are His creatures, too, are 
in the house, I prefer that they stay." 



THE LAMB 

LITTLE lamb, who made thee? 
Dost thou know who made thee? 
Gave thee hfe, and bade thee feed 
By the stream and on the mead; 
Gave thee clothing of delight, 
Softest clothing, woolly, bright; 
Gave thee such a tender voice. 
Making all the vales rejoice? 
Little lamb, who made thee? 
Dost thou know who made thee? 

— William Blake. 




PET LAMB 

L. Chialiva 



82 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



ST. FRANCIS AND THE BIRDS, 

A BOUT seven hundred years ago there was born a 
boy, named Francis, who was as gentle as a child 
all through his life. When he grew to be a man he 
became a priest, and was so beloved by the people that 
they called him St. Francis. He lived near a town called 
Assisi, and is known as St. Francis of Assisi. 

He was kind and affectionate not only to the people 
about him, but also to all of God's creatures, and 
especially to the birds. 

A legend has come down to us, from one of the quaint 
old writers of his time, which relates that as St. Francis 
was traveling through the country he saw a flock of birds 
and turned away from the road so that he could get 
nearer to them. The story says that the birds, instead 
of being afraid of him, flocked all about him, as if to 
bid him welcome. Then he began to talk to them : 

''Brother birds," he said, ''you ought to praise and 
love your Creator very much. He has given you 
feathers for clothing, wings for flying, and all that is 
needful for you. He permits you to live in the pure air; 
you have neither to sow nor to reap, and yet he takes 
care of you, watches over you, and guides you." 

Then the story says that the birds began to arch their 
necks, to spread out their wings, to open their beaks, to 
look at him as if to thank him, while he went up and 
down in their midst, stroking them with the border of 



84 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

his cloak and sending them away at last with his 
blessing. 

The story also relates that at one time he was preaching 
to the people when the swallows chirped so loudly that he 
could not be heard. 

^'It is my turn to speak/' he said to the swallows — 
^'little sister swallows, hearken to the voice of God; 
keep silent until I have finished." 

It is said of him that his love extended to all creation, 
from the sun to the earthworm, and so his memory has 
come down to us through all these seven hundred years, 
as a man with a heart large enough to love and cherish 
all the creatures which God has made and placed under 
our care. 



THE CRY OF THE LITTLE BROTHERS 



The good St. Francis of Assisi called all animals his " httle brothers 
and sisters." 

'E are the little brothers, 

Homeless in cold and heat, 

Four-footed little beggars. 

Roaming the city street. 



w 



Snatching a bone from the gutter. 
Creeping through alleys drear. 

Stoned, and sworn at, and beaten, 
Our hearts consumed with fear. 

You say that the same God made us. 
When before His throne you come, 



AUDUBON, THE FRIEND OF THE BIRDS 85 

Shall you clear yourselves in His presence 
On the plea that He made us dumb? 

Are your hearts too hard to listen 

To a starving kitten's cries? 
Or too gay for the patient pleading 

In a dog's beseeching eyes? 

Behold us, your ''little brothers" — 

Starving, beaten, oppressed, — 
Stretch out a hand to help us 

That we may have food and rest. 

Too long have we roamed neglected, 
Too long have we sickened with fear, 

The mercy you hope and pray for 
You can grant us, now and here. 

— Etheldred Barry. 



AUDUBON, THE FRIEND OF BIRDS 

"DERHAPS you have heard of the Audubon societies, 
-*" which are scattered all through the country, having 
for their object the saving of the birds. These societies 
are named after John James Audubon who died about 
fifty years ago. Audubon was an artist and also a great 
naturalist. 

When he was a little boy, Audubon was not like most 
other children. Instead of playing with boys of his own 
age, he liked to spend hour after hour in his father's big 
garden, watching the mocking-birds, blue jays, red birds, 



86 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

orioles, and woodpeckers. He learned how the birds 
build their nests and get their food. He noticed the 
coloring of every feather, and when he had studied the 
birds a long time, he began to paint them. He made 
pictures that were wonderfully hfelike for the work of 
a little boy. 

WTien Audubon became a young man his father made 
him a present of a large plantation in Pennsylvania, and 
Audubon went there to live. He now owned miles and 
miles of woodland, the home of thousands of birds. On 
the plantation was a big rock in which there was a cave. 
Audubon took this for his home, and put in it a bed, a 
table, a chair, and a cupboard for his dishes. 

Then he dressed himself in a strong suit of buckskin 
and felt that he was ready to study the birds. At first 
the little feathered creatures were afraid of him. But 
they soon made friends. They went to housekeeping 
and raised their little ones near his cave without taking 
any notice of him. 

Audubon never killed a bird except to stud}^ it. ^Alien 
his little son, Victor, grew old enough, Audubon taught 
him to paint, and to recognize the different birds and 
know their habits. He was willing to travel hundreds 
of miles, over mountains, through swamps and woods, 
far away from where any people lived, if he could only 
find a new songster. His collection of bird pictures is 
the finest ever made and is very valuable. 

Audubon lived to be an old man, and when he died 
was buried in New York City. It is said that, the trees 



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JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 



88 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

near Audubon's grave are a favorite haunt of myriads 
of swallows that gather there on warm summer evenings. 
It is very impressive to see the timid, graceful creatures 
circling above the grave of the gentle Audubon, who did 
more than any other man to protect them from harm. 

The president of all the Audubon societies in the 
United States says that every year in our country the 
insects destroy crops that are worth not less than eight 
hundred millions of dollars. Learned men who spend 
their lives in making a study of insects know the immense 
loss which they cause to farmers, gardeners, and fruit 
growers, and are able to make very close estimates as 
to what these losses cost in money. 

The reason for this fearful destruction is that the birds 
that feed on these insects are killed, more and more each 
year, for their feathers, and for cruel sport. They are 
our good friends; let us not kill them. 



ANSELM AND THE HARE 

ANSELM, the priest from Italy, 
He whom the poet Dante named 
The greatest saint in paradise, 

He whose high wisdom justly claimed 

Obedience from monks and kings, 
Rode, as it chanced upon a day, 

Where stately English trees outstretched 
Their spreading boughs along the way. 



ANSELM AND THE HARE 



89 




From out the wood there rushed a hare, 
With following huntsmen on her track; 

A voice and hand were Ufted up, 

The good priest bade the men stand back. 

They paused, amazed, for, wild with fright, 
The trembling creature swiftly sprang 

Beneath his horse, as if she saw 
Her hopes of safety on him hang. 

''Behold," he spake with gentle voice, 
''How she beneath my horse's feet 

Hath sought a refuge. Think ye not 
To send her safely forth were meet? 

"In need man flees to God for aid; 

That mercy which he seeks on high 
Shall he not grant the timorous beast 

That fearful shrinks, afraid to die?" 

Then sped the hare into the wood, 

With bounding leaps and nerves astrain. 

And with a blessing for each man, 
Anselm, the priest, rode on again. 

— Gulielma Zollinger. 



90 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS OF GEORGIA 

A LEXANDER H. STEPHENS was one of the most 
eminent of Southern statesmen. No man had 
more influence than he in his native state of Georgia. 
Every office he held, he adorned, not only by his great 
ability, but by his inflexible love of justice and the right. 
Though he was frail in body, he was a leader of men, and 
his advice was usually followed by the admiring people. 

This great man had an intense love for his home and for 
the animals about him. Some men can form a strong 
attachment for a horse or dog, but for nothing else. 
But Mr. Stephens loved all creatures with which he came 
in contact, and especially young animals. When at home 
one of his greatest recreations was to go to his barn-yard 
and watch by the hour the comical antics of his little pigs. 

He had several dogs, and would talk to them and pet 
them as if they were human beings. They slept at night 
either in his room or outside his door. They wxre his 
body-guard and watched the house so faithfully that the 
doors were never locked. 

A poodle named Rio was for years his constant 
companion. This dog was blind for a long time before 
it died, and received as much care as if it were a 
member of his family. 

Kindness — a language which the dumb can speak, 
and the deaf can understand. 



92 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

DICK AND BLIND CHARLEY 

/^NCE there were two horses in the town of Cranford 
^^ in Wales. One was called Dick and the other, 
which was blind, was named Charley. 

One day Charley wandered down into a river, and 
as he could not see the shore, he kept getting in far- 
ther and farther, until the water was so deep that he had 
to swim. He then went swimming around in a circle 
trying to get to the shore. 

Dick was grazing on the bank of the river and when he 
saw Charley swimming around and around he must 
have thought to himself: ^'That poor horse cannot see 
or he would not act that way. I will call to him; 
perhaps he will mind my voice." 

So Dick went down to the water's edge and neighed as 
loudly as he could. Still Charley did not know which 
way to turn. His fright seemed to have made him deaf 
as well as blind. Then Dick must have thought to 
himself: ^'That poor horse will get tired by and by 
and will soon be drowned if I do not help him." 

So he jumped into the river, swam out to where Charley 
was, and touched his nose, as much as to say, ''Follow 
me." Then he guided Charley safely to shore. 

By this time a great many people had gathered, 
and when Dick brought Charley out safely they cheered 
him loudly just as we would have done had we been 
there. 



SENATOR GEORGE F. HOAR AND THE BIRDS 93 



SENATOR GEORGE F. HOAR AND THE BIRDS 

^1 ^HIS great man was one of the finest lawyers and 
ablest men in his day. For many years he repre- 
sented Massachusetts in the United States Senate. 

He lived a busy life, but he did not forget to plead 
for the birds. He made an appeal to the Massachusetts 
Legislature, which resulted in a law prohibiting the 
wearing of song birds on women's hats. He made the 
birds speak for themselves in these beautiful words : 

^'To the Great and General Court of the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts: We, the song birds of Massa- 
chusetts and their playfellows, make this petition, 

''We know more about you than you think we do. We 
know how good you are. We have hopped about the 
roofs and looked in at the windows of the houses you have 
built for poor and sick and hungry people and little lame 
and deaf and blind children. W^e have built our nests 
in the trees and sung many a song as we flew about the 
gardens and parks you have made so beautiful for your 
own children, especially your poor children, to play in. 

''Every year we fly a great way over the country, 
keeping all the time where the sun is bright and warm; 
and we know that when you do anything, other people 
all over the great land between the seas and the Great 
Lakes find it out, and pretty soon will try to do the same 
thing. We know; we know. 

''We are Americans just as you are. Some of us, like 



94 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

some of you, came from across the great sea, but most of 
us have hved here a long while ; and birds like us welcomed 
your fathers when they came here many years ago. 
Our fathers and mothers have always done their best 
to please your fathers and mothers. 

''Now, we have a sad story to tell you. Thoughtless 
or bad people are trying to destroy us. They kill us 
because our feathers are beautiful. Even pretty and 
sweet girls, who we should think would be our best 
friends, kill our brothers and children so that they may 
wear their plumage on their hats. 

''Sometimes people kill us from mere wantonness. 
Cruel boys destroy our nests and steal our eggs and our 
young ones. People with guns and snares lie in wait to 
kill us, as if the place for a bird were not in the sky, alive, 
but in a shop-window or under a glass case. If this goes 
on much longer all your song birds will be gone. Already, 
we are told, in some other countries that used to be full 
of birds, they are almost gone. 

''Now we humbly pray that you will stop all this, and 
will save us from this sad fate. You have already made 
a law that no one shall kill a harmless song bird or destroy 
our nests or our eggs. Will you please to make another 
that no one shall wear our feathers, so that we shall not 
be killed to get them? We want them all ourselves. 
We are told that it is as easy for you to help us as for 
Blackbirds to whistle. 

"If you will, we know how to pay you a hundred times 
over. We will teach your children to keep themselves 



96 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

clean and neat. We will show them how to Uve together 
in peace and love and to agree as we do in our nests. 
We will build pretty houses which you will like to see. 
We will play about your gardens and flower-beds — 
ourselves like flowers on wings — without any cost to 
you. We will destroy the insects and worms that spoil 
your cherries and currants and plums and apples 
and roses. We will give you our best songs and make 
the spring more beautiful and the summer sweeter to 
you. 

''Every June morning when you go out into the field, 
Oriole and Blackbird and Bobolink will fly after you and 
make the day more delightful to you; and when you go 
home tired at sundown Vesper Sparrow will tell you how 
grateful we are. When you sit on your porch after dark, 
Fife Bird and Hermit Thrush and Wood Thrush will sing 
to you, and even Whip-poor-will will cheer up a little. We 
know where we are safe. In a little while all the birds will 
come to live in Massachusetts again, and everybody who 
loves music will like to make a summer home with you. 

''The signers are: Brown Thrasher, Robert o' Lincoln, 
Hermit Thrush, Vesper Sparrow, Robin Red Breast, 
Song Sparrow, Scarlet Tanager, Summer Red Bird, Blue 
Heron, Humming Bird, Yellow Bird, Whip-poor-will, 
Water Wag-tail, Woodpecker, Pigeon Woodpecker, Indigo 
Bird, Yellow Throat, Wilson's Thrush, Chickadee, King 
Bird, Swallow, Cedar Bird, Cow Bird, Martin, Veery, 
Vireo, Oriole, Black Bird, Fife Bird, Wren, Linnet, Pe- 
wee, Phoebe, Yoke Bird, Lark, Sandpiper, Chewink." 




1 



A RESTING PLACE 

M. Laux 



HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

THE TRUANT BIRD 

\ N empty cage! The bird has flown! 
-^^ Where can my Httle friend have gone? 
Last night I left him on his perch, 
But now, although I peep and search, 
And wander here and wander there, 
I cannot find him anywhere! 

Such friends we were, you may believe, ' 
No wonder that I sorely grieve. 
I fed him from my very hand; 
Upon my fingers he would stand. 
And often from my lips remove 
Some dainty that all song-birds love. 

I cannot think he meant to go — 
He surely would not leave me so! 
I'll wait beneath this maple tree; 
Perhaps his golden crest I'll see. 
A twitter from the topmost bough, 
A burst of song, a rush, and now 

Upon my shoulder nestles he. 

As happy as a bird can be ! 

Wh}^ did you go, you naughty thing? 

You might have broken leg or wing, 

And fallen where no friend was near 

To ease your pain, or bring you cheer. 

''I did not mean to fly away — 
At least I did not mean to stay — 




THE PET BIRD 

Meyer von Bremen 



100 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

But you forgot to give me drink 
And nice, fresh seed — oh, only think!' 
So, to remind you, day by day, 
I made beUeve to run away ! " 



IVAN AND THE QUAIL 

nn HERE was once a little boy, named Ivan, who lived 
in Russia. The country where he lived was like 
a great bare prairie without any trees, but in some places 
there were ravines or hollows, at the bottom of which 
were small streams. Often, on the sides of the ravines, 
there were bushes where the quail and partridges made 
their home. 

This boy's father was a rich man and a great hunter 
and had a fine hunting dog named Treasure. Ivan often 
went hunting with his father and Treasure, and thought 
it great sport. When the father shot a bird. Treasure 
would run to pick it up and bring it to them in his mouth. 
Then Ivan would jump and shout for joy. 

One day they went out hunting in a ravine and pretty 
soon a quail flew up almost under Treasure's nose. She 
would fly along and then drop to the ground, as though 
wounded. Ivan's father did not dare to fire for fear 
of hitting the dog. 

In a few minutes Treasure caught the quail and 
brought it to them. The father held it in his hand with 
its breast up and said, ^'She must have her nest of young 
ones not far from here, for she pretended to be wounded 



102 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

SO as to draw the dog away from the nest and save 
her httle ones, but Treasure has hurt her and she will 
not live." 

The little boy went close to the quail as it lay still in 
his father's hand, and its black eyes looked at him. All 
at once his heart was moved with a great pity, for it 
seemed to him as if the poor little creature were attempt- 
ing to say, ^'Why should I die for trying to save my 
little ones?" 

The boy caressed the poor bird's head with his 
hand, but in a moment her body trembled and her eyes 
closed. Then Ivan burst into tears and cried as if his 
heart would break, for the quail was dead. 

Very soon Treasure found the nest, but the father 
called him away before he had hurt the little ones. Ivan 
went to the nest and there were four little quails with 
their necks stretched out and mouths open for food. 
The father sat down and began to eat the lunch which 
he had brought, but the boy could not eat. He put the 
dead mother quail in his handkerchief and said: 

^'Poor little birds! Your mother has been killed. 
What will become of you?" 

Then Ivan and his father went away, the dog trotting 
after them. A few days after Ivan went back and found 
that the little birds had starved to death. 

From that day Ivan lost his liking for sport and hunting. 
His father had promised some time before to make him 
a present of a fine gun, but he did not want it. 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE 103 



DAVID LIVINGSTONE 

T^AVID LIVINGSTONE was a famous traveler and 
^-^^ explorer. When a boy he loved to wander by the 
rivers and lakes of Scotland, to watch the fish and birds, 
and to gather flowers, plants, and curious stones. 

When ten years old, he was put to work in a cotton 
factory, and out of his first week's wages he bought a 
Latin book. He worked long hours, but he placed his 
book on his spinning- jenny, so that he could glance at 
it as he worked, and before he was sixteen he had read 
many classical authors. 

When he became a young man he decided to devote his 
life to the service of mankind. At that time the great 
continent of Africa was almost unknown. Little was 
known about the millions of black people who lived back 
from the coast, except that cruel Arab and Portugese slave- 
traders were bringing down to slave-ships long processions 
of poor black creatures who had been stolen from their 
homes. These were stowed away like cattle in the dark, 
filthy holds of the ships, where a great many died owing to 
poor food, foul air, and homesickness. 

In the year 1840, when he was twenty-seven years 
old, Livingstone went to Africa, and when he saw the 
horrors of the terrible slave-trade, he resolved to do all 
in his power to stop it. For more than thirty years he 
made long and toilsome journeys in that unknown 



104 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

country, braving fevers, hunger, thirst, savages, and 
many other forms of danger. He said, ''If the good 
Lord permits me to put a stop to the enormous evils of 
the slave-trade, I shall not grudge my hunger and 
thirst." 

He told his story to the world, and largely through 
what he did and said, the slave-trade was put down. 

In many parts of Africa water is very scarce, and 
game will come to the dangerous water-holes only when 
they can resist their thirst no longer. Livingstone's heart 
was so tender that even when he needed the food, he 
would not kill the poor creatures that came to quench 
their thirst at the risk of their lives. 

After his death there were found in one of the journals 
which he wrote during those lonely travels, Coleridge's 
lines, beginning, 

''He prayeth well who loveth well 
Both man and bird and beast." 

He died alone in the heart of Africa with only his 
black attendants near him, but such was their affection 
for him that they lovingly carried his body to the coast. 
From there it was taken to England and buried in West- 
minister Abbey. 

On a memorial tablet over his grave, after his name, 
are these words, "For thirty years his life was spent 
in an unwearied effort to evangelize the native races, to 
explore the undiscovered secrets, and abolish the desolat- 
ing slave-trade of Central Africa." 




DAVID LIVINGSTONE 



106 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



SPITZ'S EDUCATION 

OH, Spitz! This really is too bad — 
A dog brought up like you! ' 
Do you forget already, sir, 
All you've been taught to do? 

Now, look at me, and pray attend; 

Give me your right-hand paw! 
No! that is not the right one, Spitz, 

Your honor is concerned; 
You would not gobble up the cake 

Because my back was turned. 

And you must learn to balance things 

Upon your shiny nose; 
And, Spitz, be careful when you walk. 

To turn out well your toes. 

Some day I'll teach j^ou. Spitz, to walk 

Upon two legs, like me; 
But then, old Spitz, you must behave 

With more gentility. 

Your paw again. You shocking dog! 

With all the pains I've taken, 
To find in right and left paw still 

You always are mistaken! 

— Mrs. Charles Heaton. 




GOOD DOGGIE 

George Earl 



108 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

SOME BIRDS' NESTS 

rr^HERE is a great variety in the material used by the 
^ birds for building their nests. Robins' nests are 
always quite similar in size, shape, and material. So it 
is with the other bird families. 

There is a bird called the cliff-swallow, which builds its 
nest of clay on the side of a cliff. A number of swallows 
usually work together. Flying off in different directions, 
they return with clay which they soften before putting 
it on their nests. One bird, that seems to be the master 
builder, stays in the nests, smooths off the clay, and sees 
that the work is properly done. In this way a little 
village of nests is made. 

The barn swallow's nest is built in much the same way. 
In front is a tiny platform on which the father sits and 
sings to his mate until the eggs in the nest are hatched. 

Among the most interesting of all birds' nests are those 
of the weaver-birds. To this class belongs the Baltimore 
oriole, which weaves its nest of fine grass, threaded 
through and through, and suspended from some con- 
venient limb. 

Another weaver-bird, common in Asia and Africa, 
suspends its nest from the end of some branch overhang- 
ing the water. This is done to keep out of the reach of 
snakes and monkeys; for the twig, strong enough to 
bear the weight of a bird's nest, would not support one of 
these animals. 

There is a weaver-bird in Africa called the ''social 



SOME BIRDS' NESTS 109 

weaver." A number of these go together and build 
in some tree-top a great grass canopy which will shed 
water like an umbrella. When this canopy is made, each 
pair of birds build their nest under its shelter. 

Perhaps the most interesting of all birds' nests is that 
of the tailor bird, which lives in India. It selects a large 
leaf, and after making small holes in each side with its 
beak, sews the two sides together. When this is done 
it builds a soft, downy nest inside. This is always 
suspended from the end of a slender twig, to keep it out 
of the reach of any mischievous animals. It is said that 
the tailor bird not only sews, but will also make a knot in 
the end of the thread to prevent its slipping through. 

— Elizabeth Davis Fielder. 



Oh, if there is one law above the rest 
Written in wisdom — if there is a word 
That I would trace as with a pen of fire 
Upon the unsunn'd temper of a child — 
If there is anything that keeps the mind 
Open to angels' visits, and repels 
The ministry of ill — 'tis human love. 

— N. P. Willis. 



If you cannot do a kind deed 

Speak a kind word; 
If you cannot speak a kind word 

Think a kind thought. 



no HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

THE EMPEROR'S BIRD'S NEST 

ONCE the Emperor Charles of Spain, 
With his swarthy, grave commanders, 
I forget in what campaign. 
Long besieged, in mud and rain, 
Some old frontier town of Flanders. 

Up and down the dreary camp, 
In great boots of Spanish leather, 

Striding with a measured tramp. 

These Hidalgos, dull and damp. 

Cursed the Frenchmen, cursed the weather. 

Thus as to and fro they went. 

Over upland and through hollow, 
Giving their impatience vent. 
Perched upon the emperor's tent. 
In her nest, they spied a swallow. 

Yes, it was a swallow's nest. 

Built of clay and hair of horses, 
Mane or tail, or dragon's crest. 
Found on hedge-rows east and west, 
After skirmish of the forces. 

Then an old Hidalgo said. 

As he twirled his gray mustachio, 
^'Sure this swallow overhead 

Thinks the emperor's tent a shed. 
And the emperor but a Macho!" 

Hearing his imperial name 

Coupled with those words of mahce. 



THE EMPEROR'S BIRD'S NEST 111 

Half in anger, half in shame, 
Forth the great campaigner came 
Slowly from his canvas palace. 

''Let no hand the bird molest," 

Said he solemnly, ''nor hurt her!" 
Adding then by way of jest, 
"Golondrina is my guest, 

'Tis the wife of some deserter!" 

Swift as bowstring speeds a shaft, 

Through the camp was spread the rumor, 

And the soldiers, as they quaffed 

Flemish beer at dinner, laughed 
At the emperor's pleasant humor. 

So, unharmed and unafraid. 

Sat the swallow still and brooded, 
Till the constant cannonade 
Through the walls a breach had made, 

And the siege was thus concluded. 

Then the army, elsewhere bent. 

Struck its tents as if disbanding, 
Only not the emperor's tent. 
For he ordered, 'ere he went. 

Very curtly, "Leave it standing!" 

So it stood there all alone, 

Loosely flapping, torn and tattered, 
Till the brood was fledged and flown. 
Singing o'er those walls of stone 

Which the cannon-shot had shattered. 

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 



112 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



CHARLES DICKENS 

/^HARLES DICKENS was a very popular English 
^^ writer of novels. When he was a little boy, 
his father was poor and Charles was put into a factory 
to work, where he had a sad, hard life. When he grew 
older he found that he could write stories which were 
so good that miUions of people would read them. He 
hated cruelty and wrong and never forgot the time when 
he was a poor boy working in the factory. Few men 
have ever lived who have done more to prevent cruelty. 

When he began to write, there were hundreds of schools 
where boys could be sent away from home. In many 
the school-masters were very cruel. They flogged the 
boys without mercy if they had imperfect lessons. Very 
often the boys did not get enough to eat and suffered for 
want of care. There were also hundreds of girls' board- 
ing-schools where little girls were cruelly treated. 

Besides this there were thousands of little boys in work- 
houses and factories and shops, who were very miserable, 
and there were many other people whose lives were dark 
and sorrowful, because they were treated unjustly. 

Dickens wrote stories about all of these people, and 
so aroused the sympathy of the world that laws were 
changed and the lives of her unfortunate made brighter. 

He felt such pity for the sorrowful and downtrodden 
that we are moved to tears of sympathy when reading 
some of his stories. 





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114 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

BOB WHITE 

OLD friend, I hear your whistle 
Upon the zigzag rail; 
Your cheery voice of welcome 

Rings on the autumn gale; 
When scarlet leaves and golden 

Dance in the amber light, 
You tell me of your presence 
With a vim, Bob White! 

A whole-souled little fellow, 

In speckled coat of brown. 
You heed not summer's passing 

Or skies that darkly frown; 
While other birds are quiet, 

Your call comes to delight, 
And that is why I like you 

Most of all. Bob White! 

Philosopher in feathers, 

I'd join your happy school; 
The heart forever sighing 

Belongeth to the fool ! 
Happy-go-lucky fellow. 

Though chilly breezes bUght, 
There's always summer sunshine 

In your heart. Bob White! 

The world has so much sorrow. 
We need your lively call; 



ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 115 

A soul to face all trouble, 

Ah! that's the best of all! 
The snow will soon be falling, 

Nor hill nor vale in sight; 
But I have learned your lesson 

In my heart, Bob White! 

— Lucy Larcom. 



ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 

r> OBERT LOUIS STEVENSON wrote many story- 
'■' ^ books that have become famous. Among them 
are '' Treasure Island," ''Kidnapped," and others. 

He was born in Edinburgh in the year 1850 and died 
in 1895. His grandfather, father, and uncle were great 
engineers and builders, who erected lighthouses in the 
ocean where it seemed impossible to build them. They 
wanted Robert to follow the same calling. But he had 
no desire to be an engineer. Then his father wanted him 
to become a lawyer, which he did, but this profession also 
was distasteful to him. 

He liked to wander in the fields, to explore the woods 
and mountains, to mix with different classes of people, 
to study them and notice their peculiarities. He delighted 
in writing about all he saw. 

Stevenson suffered from poor health most of his life, 
and during his last years found it necessary to live in a 
warm, balmy climate. He went to the Island of Samoa, 
which' is in the Pacific Ocean, and made a home 



116 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

among the natives. The chmate was deUghtful, and he 
probably prolonged his life for several years by living 
there. He had a strong little Samoan pony, named 
Jack, on which he used to ride for his health. He was 
very strongly attached to this little animal and showed 
his affection by arranging that after his death it should 
be cared for and should not be used by any one else as 
long as it lived. 

He was kind not only to his pon}^, but also to the 
people about him, and they all loved him. When he died, 
an old Samoan chief, whom Stevenson had helped, said: 

^'I am only a poor Samoan and ignorant. We were in 
prison and he cared for us. We were sick and he made 
us well. We were hungry and he fed us. The da}^ was 
no longer than his kindness." 

The native chiefs dug his grave on the side of a moun- 
tain in the spot that he had chosen, and they themselves 
carried his body up the steep ascent. 

So the good influence of his life was even more than 
the brilhancy of his books. He wrote this prayer, which 
is one of the classics in our language: 

''We thank Thee for the place in which we dwell; for 
the love that unites us; for the peace accorded us this 
day; for the hope with which we expect the morrow; 
for the health, the work, the food, and the bright skies 
that make our lives delightful, for our friends in all parts 
of the earth, and our friendly helpers in this foreign isle. 
Give us courage and gaiety and the quiet mind. Spare to 
us our friends, soften to us our enemies. Bless us, if it 



4 







1. 







1 








ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 



118 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

may be; give us the strength to encounter that which is to 
come, that we may be brave in peril, constant in tribula- 
tion, temperate in wrath and in all changes of fortune, and 
down to the gates of death, loyal and loving, one to 
another." 

He died when only forty-five years old but he left 
the world brighter and better because he had hved in it. 

His little poem entitled ^^My Kingdom" shows how 
well he understood and could interpret the life of active 
boys. 

MY KINGDOM 

DOWN by a shining water well 
I found a very little dell, 
No higher than my head. 
The heather and the gorse about 
In summer bloom were coming out, 
Some yellow and some red. 

I called the little pool a sea; 
The little hills were big to me; 

For I am very small. 
I made a boat, I made a town, 
I searched the caverns up and down, 

And named them one and all. 

And all about was mine, I said; 
The little sparrows overhead, 

The little minnows too. 
This was the world and I was the king; 



ROBERT AND ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING 119 

For me the bees came by to sing, 
For me the swallows flew. 

I played there were no deeper seas, 
Nor any wider plains than these, 

Nor other kings than me. 
At last I heard my mother call 
Out from the house at evenfall, 

To call me home to tea. 

And I must rise and leave my dell. 
And leave my dimpled water well, 

And leave my heather blooms. 
Alas; and as my home I neared, 
How very big my nurse appeared. 

How great and cool the rooms. 

— Robert Louis Stevenson. 



ROBERT AND ELIZABETH BARRETT 
BROWNING 

T> OBERT BROWNING may be called the Poet of 

^ Hope. He looked upon the bright side of life, and 

found joy and gladness where others see nothing but 

sadness and despair. His own words well describe him: 

''One who never turned his back, but marched breast forward 
Never doubted clouds would break, 
Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would 
triumph, 
Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, sleep to wake." 



120 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

We may be sure that such a man had an affectionate 
nature. He showed this when a very young boy, for 
even then he had an anxious tenderness and care for all 
living creatures. Jie took a poor mangled cat home to 
be cared for, and tended crippled birds that he found. 

His gifted wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, might 
be called the Poet of the Children. While she lived, there 
were thousands of poor little children who worked long 
days in dark coal mines and in crowded factories. 

She wrote a poem called ^'The Cry of the Children," 
of which this is one verse : 

''The young lambs are bleating in the meadows, 
The young birds are chirping in the nest, 
The young fawns are playing with the shadows. 
The young flowers are blowing toward the West — 
But the young, young children, Oh, my brothers, . 
They are weeping in the playtime of the others. 
In the country of the free." 

This poem made such an impression on the people 
that laws were passed to protect the children from such 
hardship and misery. 

Mrs. Browning was never very strong, and once, 
when she was quite ill, she received a present, from a 
dear friend, of a fine dog. This dog she made the sub- 
ject of one of her most beautiful poems, entitled ''To 
Flush, My Dog." On page 122 are some of the stanzas 
which Mrs. Browning wrote about the dog that 
comforted her when she was ill. 



122 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

TO FLUSH, MY DOG 

T IKE a lady's ringlets brown, 
■*— ^ Flow thy silken ears adown 

Either side demurely 
Of thy silver-suited breast, 
Shining out from all the rest 

Of thy body purely. 

Underneath my stroking hand, 
Startled eyes of hazel bland, 

Kindling, growing larger, 
Up thou leapest with a spring, 
Full of prank and curveting, 

Leaping like a charger. 

Yet, my pretty, sportive friend. 
Little is't to such an end 

That I praise thy rareness; 
Other dogs may be thy peers 
Haply in these drooping ears 

And this glossy fairness. 

But of thee it shall be said, 
This dog watched beside a bed 

Day and night unweary, 
Watched within a curtained room 
Where no sunbeam brake the gloom 

Round the sick and dreary. 

Roses, gathered for a vase 
In that chamber died apace, 



i 




f-.. ^J 



COMRADES 

Elizabeth Strong 



124 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Beam and breeze resigning; 
This dog only, waited on, 
Knowing that when Hght is gone 

Love remains for shining. 

And if one or two quick tears 
Dropped upon his glossy ears, 

Or a smile came double. 
Up he sprang in eager haste, 
Fawning, fondling, breathing fast, 

In a tender trouble. 

And this dog was satisfied 

If a pale thin hand would glide 

Down his dewlaps sloping, — 
Which he pushed his nose within. 
After, — platforming his chin 

On the palm left open. 

Therefore to this dog will I 
Tenderly, not scornfully. 

Render praise and favor; 
With my hand upon his head. 
Is my benediction said 

Therefore and forever. 

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 



I WOULD not give much for that man's religion which 
does not reach out to his horse or his dog. — Rolland 
Hill 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 125 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 

^IT'ILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT was born in Massa- 
^ ^ chusetts, in 1794, and died in 1878. 

Like Whittier, he was a farmer's boy and his father 
was a strong, rugged man — a fine specimen of the New 
England farmer. WiUiam was weak and sickly, but no 
doubt he did the chores like other boys and worked as 
hard as his strength would allow. 

He lived to be nearly eighty-four years old and accom- 
plished a great deal, which shows that even a delicate 
boy may live long and accomplish much if he tries. 

When a young man, Bryant prepared himself to become 
a lawyer, and while a law student wrote the beautiful 
poem, ^^ Robert of Lincoln. " But he did not like the law, 
so he went to New York City and became the editor of a 
paper. He continued this work nearly all the rest of his 
life. 

Bryant was a lover of Nature, and wrote beautiful 
descriptions of scenery. He led a calm and peaceful life. 
He had an intense love of human freedom. 

His poems, such as ''The Gladness of Nature," ''A 
Summer Ramble," ''The Evening Wind," and "The 
Death of the Flowers," will be read with delight as long 
as our language is spoken. 

When only nineteen years of age he wrote "Thana- 
topsis," which is one of the finest poems in the 
English language. 



126 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

ROBERT OF LINCOLN 

MERRILY swinging on brier and weed, 
Near to the nest of his httle dame, 
Over the mountain-side or mead, 

Robert of Lincoln is telhng his name: 
''Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-Unk, 
Spink, spank, spink; 
Snug and safe is that nest of ours. 
Hidden among the summer flowers." 

Robert of Lincoln is gaily drest, 

Wearing a bright black wedding coat; 
White are his shoulders and white his crest; 
Hear him call, in his merry note: 
^'Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, . 
Spink, spank, spink; 
Look what a nice new coat is mine. 
Sure there was never a bird so fine." 

Robert of Lincoln's Quaker wife. 

Pretty and quiet, with plain brown wings. 
Passing at home a patient life, 

Broods in the grass while her husband sings; 
'' Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 
Spink, spank, spink; 
Brood, kind creature; you need not fear 
Thieves and robbers while I am here." 

Modest and shy as a nun is she; 

One weak chirp is her only note. 
Braggart and prince of braggarts is he, 



128 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Pouring boasts from his little throat: 
''Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 
Spink, spank, spink; 

Never was I afraid of man; 

Catch me, cowardly knave, if you can." 

Six white eggs on a bed of hay, 

Flecked with purple, a pretty sight. 
There as the mother sits all day, 
Robert is singing with all his might: 
''Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-hnk, 
Spink, spank, spink; 
Nice good wife, that never goes out. 
Keeping house while I froHc about." 

Soon as the little ones chip the shell. 

Six white mouths are open for food; 
Robert of Lincoln bestirs him well. 
Gathering seeds for the hungry brood. 
''Bob-o'-hnk, bob-o'-link, 
Spink, spank, spink; 
This new life is likely to be 
Hard for a gay young fellow like me." 

Robert of Lincoln at length is made 

Sober with work, and silent with care; 
Off is his holiday garment laid. 
Half forgotten his merry air: 
"Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, 
Spink, spank, spink; 
Nobody knows but my mate and I, 
Where our nest and our nestlings lie." 



THE GRATEFUL ELEPHANT 129 

Summer wanes — the children are grown; 

Fun and froKc no more he knows. 
Robert of Lincohi's a hum-drum crone; 
Off he flies, and we sing as he goes: 
''Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-Unk, 
Spink, spank, spink; 
When you can pipe that merry old strain, 
Robert of Lincoln come back again." 

— William Cullen Bryant. 



THE GRATEFUL ELEPHANT 

^X^HERE was once an elephant named Hebe that 
belonged to P. T. Barnum's famous menagerie. 
One day she stepped on a nail, which pierced the tender 
part of her foot, so that she was in great agony. 

Mr. Barnum sent for a young horse doctor who was 
noted for his courage, but when the doctor saw the ele- 
phant standing on three legs and swinging the wounded 
foot with loud cries of pain, he felt rather timid about 
approaching the beast. But the elephant's keeper told 
him she had sense, so he got out his instruments and 
went up to examine the foot. While he was looking at 
it he felt a light touch on his head and glancing up, saw 
it was the elephant's trunk. 

''Don't mind her," said the keeper. ''She is only 
curling your hair." 

The keeper said something to the elephant and told 
the doctor to cut into the foot. He did so and had to 



130 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

cut deeply to reach the abscess which had formed. As 
he worked, a cold perspiration came out all over him, 
for he felt her trunk growing tighter on his hair. At 
length the foot was dressed and the elephant was relieved 
but the doctor fainted away. 

A year and a half afterward the doctor, happening to 
be where the menagerie was, went to see the elephant. 
She looked at him for awhile, then she reached out her 
trunk and touched first his shoulders and then his hair. 
Finally she raised her foot, which was now well, and showed 
it to him, for she remembered him and expressed her 
gratitude in that way. 



THE STORY OF THE LITTLE 
WHITE KITTEN 

A LITTLE white kitten once lived with its black and 
white mother and two tiny black brothers, up in 
the hay-loft of a doctor's barn. They were a happy 
family, and the mother cat loved her little ones dearly. 
She took great pride in their tidy appearance, washing 
them several times a day. The wonder was that she 
did not wear her rough tongue smooth in her untiring 
effort to keep the children neat. 

One day the mother cat went to see a neighbor, leaving 
her children asleep on the hay. By and by the white 
kitten was wakened by hearing the barn door creak on its 
hinges. She crawled to the edge of the mow to see what 




A FASCINATING TALE 

Henriette Ronner 



132 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

was happening, but suddenly she lost her balance and fell 
head over heels on the back seat of the doctor's carriage 
which the stable boy was rolling out of the barn. 

The little white kitten cuddled down in a frightened 
ball. The horse was harnessed; the doctor jumped in; 
and off they went down the avenue. 

Afte'r a short drive the doctor stopped, tied his horse, 
and started up the walk leading to a big white house. 
The inquisitive little kitten had got over her fright and 
thought she would go too. So she scrambled down from 
the carriage, and when the door of the house was opened 
for the doctor, in she walked. 

The doctor had come to see a little boy who was very 
ill. While the child's mother and the physician were 
talking together, the white kitten sprang upon the boy's 
bed. This made him open his big blue eyes wide and 
burst into a merry laugh. It was the first time he had 
laughed for many days! 

The little boy held out his arms to the pretty kitten, 
which began at once to play with his fingers. When the 
others saw this, it was their turn to laugh, and it was 
enough to make them laugh for very joy to see what 
good cheer the kitten had brought. No one knew where 
she had come from, but both mother and doctor agreed 
that she was the best kind of medicine. The Httle boy 
got well very soon, and the kitten became his much- 
loved playmate. 

Adapted from "Our Ani trial Friends.^' 



TWENTY FROGGIES 133 



TWENTY FROGGIES 

TWENTY froggies went to school 
Down beside a rushy pool ; 
Twenty little coats of green, 
Twenty vests all white and clean. 

"We must be in time," said they. 
"First we study, then we play; 
That is how we keep the rule 
When we froggies go to school." 

Master Bullfrog, brave and stern, 
Called the classes in their turn; 
Taught them how to nobly strive, 
Also how to leap and dive. 

Taught them how to dodge a blow 
From the stick that bad boys throw. 
Twenty froggies grew up fast. 
Bullfrogs they became at last. 

PoUshed in a high degree, 
As each froggie ought to be, 
Now they sit on other logs 
Teaching other little frogs. 

— George Cooper. 



134 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



JET AND THE BOY 

T ITTLE ELMER lived in the country on the top of 
■^^^ a high hill. On one side of the house the hill 
sloped away to a beautiful brook where Elmer used to 
play for many hours at a time. 

But one day when Elmer went to the brook, he heard 
the funniest whirring noise in the goldenrod which grew 
near a big maple, not far from where he built his dam. 
At first he thought it might be a great bear which had 
come there during the night. Or, perhaps, it might be 
one of those hostile Indians Brother George was reading 
about in his history lesson. So he stood very still and 
listened for a moment, opening his bright brown eyes 
just as wide as he could. But no matter how wide he 
opened them, he could see no trace of a bear or an 
Indian, so he tiptoed very softly in his bare feet 
down to the edge of the brook. 

Even there he could not catch a glimpse of anything, so 
he waded through and went quietly to the spot where he 
had seen the goldenrod moving as though something 
was beneath it. Then he bent down and what do you 
suppose he saw? A poor, wounded crow, struggling and 
trying its best to get away. Some cruel boy must have 
thrown stones at it, for one of its wings was broken and 
its leg. It looked up when it saw Elmer, and tried still 
harder to get out of the way, and made the queerest kind 
of a moan, as if to say : 



136 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

''Don't hurt me, little boy. Go away and leave me 
alone. But how I wish you might help me." 

Now Elmer was just seven years old, and at first he 
was almost afraid to touch the crow at all, but after a 
moment he reached his hands down into the goldenrod 
and lifted the poor bird up very tenderly. Then he held 
it carefully against his red blouse and carried it back to 
the house, talking to it all the way. 

Now it happened that the doctor was there to see 
Elmer's mamma about some grapes she had to sell, and 
when he saw the crow he set its wing and its leg just as 
carefully as though it were Elmer himself that was hurt. 
Then Mamma made it a bed in a box in the woodshed 
where nothing would disturb or frighten it. It was only 
a few weeks before the crow was well, and by that time 
it had grown so tame that it would follow Mamma all 
over the house. 

But Elmer was the one Jet cared most for. Jet, you 
see, was the name Elmer had given the crow because it 
was so black. It would fly down and perch on his 
head, or if it was up in the branch of the apple tree, 
and saw Elmer coming, it would call out almost as 
plainly as you could say it, ''Elmer! Elmer!" for 
some crows can be taught to speak so that their 
words can be understood quite well. 

One day something happened that made every one love 
Jet more than ever. Mamma was lying down to rest 
for an hour, and Elmer was at play in the brook when he 
heard Jet calling in a very loud tone. "Elmer, " Elmer ! '^ 



JET AND THE BOY 137 

he called, and then, stopping a moment, began all over 
again, ''Elmer! Elmer! Elmer!" just as quickly as he 
could cry the words. 

Jet did it in such a strange way and kept it up for so 
long that Elmer began to think that something must be 
wrong. He ran to the house as fast as his feet could 
carry him, and what do you think he found? 

Some one had set the grass on fire by the roadside, 
and it had crept up until it was burning the chips which 
lay scattered all around the wood piled against the side 
of the shed built close to the back kitchen. A very few 
minutes more and the house would have been in a blaze. 

It did not take Elmer long to rouse Mamma, you may 
be sure. She sent him down the road to tell Mr. Read, 
who lived in the next house, and while he was gone she 
worked alone to put out the fire, while Jet sat in the 
apple tree and called: 

''Elmer! Elmer! Hur — hur — hur— hurry up!" 

You may be sure Elmer did hurry up, and when he 
got back with Mr. Read, the fire was soon put out with 
very little damage, except to the wood-pile. Then Jet 
flew down upon Elmer's head and picked at his cap with 
his beak, which was his way of asking for a romp on the 
grass. 

While they were rolling around, having a great time 
together, Elmer stroked the glossy wings of his pet and 
said, "You're the dearest, nicest bird I ever saw. You 
saved our house from going up in smoke, and I love you 
more than ever." 



138 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Papa was standing by and he sat down upon the grass 
and threw his arms around them both. 

'^It all comes from your not leaving a poor wounded 
crow to endure pain alone, my boy. Kind actions, 
even to a bird, bring rich rewards. Sometimes it is 
nothing more than keeping your own heart warm by 
loving everything, but that is a great deal." 

— Ahhie F. Ransom. 



TO MY DOG BLANCO 

MY dear dumb friend, low lying there, 
A ^^illing vassal at my feet, 
Glad partner of my home and fare, 
My shadow in the street; 

I look into your great bro'^Ti eyes, 
"Where love and loyal homage shine. 

And wonder where the difference lies 
Between your soul and mine. 

For all of good that I have found 
Within mj^self or human kind 

Hath royally informed and crowned 
Your gentle heart and mind. 

I scan the whole broad earth around 
For that one heart which, leal and true, 

Bears friendship without end or bound. 
And find the prize in you. 



140 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

' I trust you as I trust the stars; 

Nor cruel loss, nor scoff, nor pride, 
Nor beggarj^, nor dungeon bars. 
Can move you from my side. 

As patient under injury 

As any Christian saint of old, 
As gentle as a lamb with me, 

But with your brothers bold; 

More playful than a frolic boy, 

More watchful than a sentinel, 
By day and night your constant joy 

To guard and please me well; 

I clasp your head upon my breast — 

The while you whine and lick my hand — 
And thus our friendship is confessed. 
And thus we understand! 

Ah, Blanco! Did I worship God 

As truly as you worship me, 
Or follow where my master trod 

With your humility, 

Did I sit fondly at His feet, 

As you, dear Blanco, sit at mine. 

And watch Him with a love as sweet. 
My life would grow divine. 

— J. G. Holland. 



HOW THE CHINESE TREAT ANIMALS 141 



HOW THE CHINESE TREAT ANIMALS 

A LTHOUGH we know the Chinese people a Uttle 
-^^ better than we did years ago, yet we are finding 
out more and more about them all the time. Travelers 
can now go to nearly all parts of the country, and are 
fond of telling what they have learned. 

A gentleman who traveled on horseback through a 
part of China, tells us that the Chinese people are very 
kind to animals. They do not whip and lash their mules 
and ponies as many cruel men do when they get angry, 
but they are patient until even the bad-tempered mules 
become tame and obedient. 

This traveler says that he never saw a runaway mule 
or pony in China. The animals will work cheerfully 
and keep a good pace over good and bad roads, and are 
ready to do all they can to please their masters. They 
can be turned to' the right or left by a ^Hurr" or ^^ chuck" 
almost without pulling on the lines. He said that he 
had often seen a little boy lead a sheep through a crowded 
street or alley without any one thinking of doing it harm. 
He says the Chinese are just as kind to their cattle, 
pigs, and birds as they are to their ponies and sheep. 

About one-fourth of all the people living in the world 
are Chinese — something like four hundred million of 
men, women, and children; and if they are all as kind to 
their animals as this traveler describes, they set us a fine 
example. We surely ought to try to do as well as they. 



142 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



SIR WALTER SCOTT AND HIS DOGS 

OIR WALTER SCOTT was one of the most beloved 
^ poets and story-writers of Scotland. He was 
called the ''Wizard of the North," because he could 
think back hundreds of years and picture to us how 
the people lived and what they did in those olden times. 

One day when Sir Walter was a boy, a dog came run- 
ning toward him, and he picked up a stone and threw it, 
as boys often do, just to see if they can hit their mark. 
The stone broke the dog's leg; yet the poor animal 
crawled up and licked Scott's feet. Then Scott felt the 
bitterest remorse. He could never forget this incident, 
for he was a thoroughly tender-hearted man. 

When Scott grew up and became a writer, he always 
kept the window of his study open so that his pets might 
pass to and fro as they pleased. Among his special 
favorites were Camp, a bull terrier, Douglas and Percy, 
two noble greyhounds, and Maida, a beautiful stag 
hound that Sir Walter especially loved, and whose 
monument still attracts the notice of the visitor as he 
enters the hall at Abbotsford, Scott's beautiful home. 

During his last illness Scott loved to have his dogs 
lick his hands and show their affection for him. 



Sow a thought and you reap a habit, sow a habit 
and you reap a character. 



144 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

SAVING MOTHER 

THE farmer sat in his easy chair, 
Between the fire and the lampUght's glare; 
His face was ruddy and full and fair. 
His three small boys in the chimney's nook 
Conned the lines of a picture book; 
His wife, the pride of his home and heart. 
Baked the biscuit and made the tart. 
Laid the table and steeped the tea. 
Deftly, swiftly, silently; 
Tired and weary and weak and faint, 
She bore her trials without complaint. 
Like many another household saint — 
Content, all selfish bUss above. 
In the patient ministry of love. 
At last, between the clouds of smoke 
That wreathed his lips, the husband spoke: 

''There are taxes to raise, an' interest to pay — 
And if there should come a rainy day, 
'Twould be mighty handy, I'm bound to say. 
To have sumptin' put by; for folks must die. 
An' there's funeral bills and gravestones to buy - 
Enough to swamp a man, purty nigh; 
Besides, there's Edward and Dick and Joe 
To be provided for when we go. 
So 'f I were you, I'll tell you what I'd do: 
I'd be savin' of wood as ever I could — 
Extry fires don't do any good; 
I'd be savin' of soap and savin' of ile. 



SAVING MOTHER 145 

And run up candles once in a while; 

I'd be rather sparin' of coffee and tea, 

For sugar is high 

And all to buy; 

And cider is good enough drink for me; 

And I'd be kind o' careful 'bout my clo'es, 

And look out sharp how the money goes — 

Gewgaws is useless, nater knows; 

Extry trimmin' 

'S the bane of wimmen. 

I'd sell off the best of the cheese and honey. 

And eggs is as good nigh about's the money; 

And as to the carpet you wanted new, 

I guess we can make the old one do. 

And as to the washer and sewin' machine — 

Them smooth-tongued agents, so pesky mean, 

You'd better get rid of 'em slick and clean. 

What do they know about woman's work — 

Do they calkilate women was born to shirk?" 

Dick and Edward and little Joe 

Sat in the corner in a row. 

They saw the patient mother go 

On ceaseless errands to and fro; 

They saw that her form was bent and thin, 

Her temples gray, her cheeks sunk in; 

They saw the quiver of lip and chin; 

And then with a wrath he could not smother. 

Out spoke the youngest, frailest brother : 

"You talk of savin' wood and ile. 

And tea and sugar, all the while; 

But you never talk of savin' mother!" 



146 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



THE CRIPPLE BOY AND THE HORSE 

OOME years ago, in Minneapolis, in front of a large 
^ building in the heart of the city, there was a poor 
little crippled boy who used to stand selling papers. 
Every one who passed by and saw him must have felt 
sorry for him, for he suffered from paralysis, so that he 
had to stand on crutches. 

One day a loaded wagon was left near where this little 
lame boy was selling papers. He saw that the poor 
horse had a raw shoulder and that the collar which 
pressed upon it caused the animal great pain. Some of 
the people who were passing stopped a moment and 
said, ^'How I pity that poor horse! It is a shame that 
men will be so cruel as to drive a horse with raw sores 
on his shoulders," and then went on and left the horse 
to bear the pain as best he could. 

But the boy did not take that course. He began to 
look about to see how he could relieve the poor animal. 
Finding nothing better, he ripped the cloth and cushion 
from the top of his crutch, and then he tied it on the 
horse's collar with two strings, so as to protect the sore 
spot. Then he hobbled back to his place on his bare 
crutch and began to sell papers as before. 

He did not know it, but he had done a princely act, 
for the ragged coat which he wore covered a heart full 
of sympathy even for the friendless, suffering beasts. 




SHOEING THE HORSE 

Sir Edwin Landseer 



148 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



THE HORSE, THE DOG, AND THE MAN 

^ I ^HE horse and the dog had tamed a man and fastened him 
^ to a fence; 

Said the horse to the dog, ''For the life of me, I don't see a bit 

of sense 
In letting him have the thumbs that grow at the sides of his 

hands, do you?" 
And the dog looked solemn and slowly said, "I cannot say that 

I do." 

The poor man groaned and tried to get loose, and sadly he 

begged them, ''Stay! 
You will rob me of things for which I have use by cutting my 

thumbs away! 
You will spoil my looks, you will cause me pain! Ah, why 

should you treat me so? 
As I am, God made me, and He knows best! Oh, masters, pray 

let me go!" 

The dog laughed out and the horse replied, "Oh, the cutting 
won't hurt you! You see 

We'll have a hot iron to clap right on, as you did in your dock- 
ing of me! 

God gave you your thumbs and all, but still the Creator, you 
know, may fail 

To do the artistic thing, as He did in furnishing me with 
a tail!" 

So they bound the man, and cut off his thumbs, and were deaf 
to his pitiful cries, 



THE HORSE, THE DOG, AND THE MAN 149 

And they seared the stumps and they viewed their work through 
happy and dazzled eyes: 

''How trim he appears," the horse exclaimed, "since his awk- 
ward thumbs are gone! 

For the life of me I cannot see why the Lord ever put them on! " 

"Still, it seems to me," the dog replied, "that there's something 

else to do; 
His ears look rather too long for me, and how do they look to 

you?" 
The man cried out, "Oh, spare my ears! God fashioned them, 

as you see, 
And if you apply your knife to them you'll surely disfigure 

me!" 

"But you didn't disfigure me, you know," the dog decisively 

said, 
"When you bound me fast and trimmed my ears down close 

to the top of my head!" 
So they let him moan and they let him groan while they cropped 

his ears away. 
And they praised his looks when they let him up, and proud 

indeed were they! 

But that was years and years ago, in an unenlightened age! 
Such things are ended now, you know; we have reached a higher 

stage ! 
The ears and thumbs God gave to man are his to keep and 

wear. 
And the cruel horse and dog look on and never appear to care! 

— S, E. Riser. 



150 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

COWPER AND HIS HARES 

XTO one was more fond of animals, or more kind to 
-^^ them, than Cowper, the poet. Of all creatures 
he loved hares best, perhaps because he, like them, was 
timid and easily frightened. He has left a very interest- 
ing account of three hares that were given to him when 
he was living in the country in the year 1774. 

Cowper was not a strong man, and suffered terribly 
from fits of low spirits. At these times he could not 
read, and disliked the company of people. It was during 
one of these seasons of solitude and melancholy that he 
noticed a poor little hare belonging to the children of 
one of his neighbors, who, without meaning to be unkind, 
had worried the little thing almost to death. Soon they 
got tired even of playing with it, and the poor hare was 
in danger of being starved, when the father, whose heart 
was more tender than theirs, proposed that it should be 
given to their neighbor, Mr. Cowper. 

Now Cowper, besides feeling pity for the poor little 
creature, felt that he should like to teach and train it, 
and as just then he was too unhappy to care for his usual 
occupations, he gladly accepted the present. In a very 
short time Puss, as he named the hare, was given two 
companions, Tiney and Bess. 

Cowper wished his pets to learn clean habits, so he 
began with his own hands to build them a house. The 
house contained a large hall and three bedrooms, each 
with a separate bed. It was astonishing how soon every 



152 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

hare knew its own bedroom, and how careful he was 
never to go into those of his friends. 

All three of the hares hked lettuce, dandelions, and 
oats; and every night little dishes were placed in their 
bedrooms, in case they might feel hungry. One day the 
master was clearing out a bird-cage and placed on the 
floor a pot containing some white sand, such as birds 
use instead of a carpet. The moment the hares saw the 
sand, they made a rush for it and ate it up greedily. 
Cowper took the hint, and always saw that sand was 
placed where the hares could get at it. 

Once Puss was ill, and then the poet nursed him and 
gave him all sorts of herbs and grasses as medicine. At 
last Puss began to get better, and took notice of what 
was going on around him. When he was strong enough 
to take his first little walk, his pleasure knew no bounds. 
In token of his gratitude he hcked his master's hand, 
first back, then front, and then between the fingers. 
As soon as he felt himself quite strong again, he went 
with the poet every day, after breakfast, into the garden, 
where he lay all the morning under a traihng cucumber 
vine, sometimes asleep, but every now and then eating 
a leaf or two by way of luncheon. If the poet was ever 
later than usual in leaving the house. Puss would get 
down on his knees and look into his eyes with a plead- 
ing expression, or, if these means failed, he would seize 
his master's coat between his teeth, and pull as hard as 
he could toward the window. 



THE MERCIFUL SPORTSMAN 153 

THE MERCIFUL SPORTSMAN 

I GO a-gunning but take no gun, 
I fish without a pole; 
And I bag good game and catch such fish 

As suit a sportsman's soul. 
For the choicest game that the forest holds, 

And the best fish of the brook 
Are never brought down by a rifle shot. 
And never are caught with a hook. 

I bob for fish by the forest brook, 

I hunt for game in the trees, 
For bigger birds than wing the air 

Or fish than swim the seas. 
A rodless Walton of the brooks, 

A bloodless sportsman, I — 
I hunt for the thoughts that throng the woods. 

The dreams that haunt the sky. 

The woods were made for the hunters of dreams. 

The brooks for the fishers of song; 
To the hunters who hunt for the gunless game 

The streams and the woods belong. 
There are thoughts that moan from the soul of the pine. 

And thoughts in a flower-bell curled; 
And the thoughts that are blown with the scent of the fern, 

Are as new and as old as the world. 

So, away, for the hunt in the fern-scented wood. 
Till the going down of the sun; 



154 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

There is plenty of game still left in the woods 

For the hunter who has no gun. 
So, away, for the fish by the moss-bordered brook 

That flows through the velvety sod; 
There are plenty of fish yet left in the stream 

For the angler who has no rod. 

— Sam Walter Foss. 



THE TAMED BRONCHO 

A KIND-HEARTED gentleman in California, a Mr. 
-^^ Hill, once owned a broncho which he could never 
saddle without first tying him, throwing him to the 
ground, and binding him. As my friend was a lover of 
animals and gentle with everything living on his ranch, 
I asked him why he was so severe with the broncho. 

Mr. Hill replied, ''It is the nature of the brute to 
be ugly, and we always have to rope him before we can 
do anything with him. It is common with bronchos." 

I had no doubt he was right, but it seemed a cruel 
thing to keep an animal which had to be dealt with so 
harshly. 

Some months afterward I was camping near an old 
log road in the mountains near Mr. Hill's ranch. One 
bright morning I heard a clear whistle just as I was 
building my fire to put on the coffee. It came from the 
road and there I saw a boy of about eighteen years coming 
along with a bridle on his arm. 

The boy whistled again and then I heard a whinny in 




a^^^«d. 



MOTHERHOOD 

Debat-Pousan 



156 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

the distance. Along the road came galloping a fine gray 
pony with ears erect and mane and tail flying in the 
wind. On he came with flashing eyes, as if expecting 
the greatest pleasure of his life. Within a few rods of 
the boy he slowed down into a swinging trot, and then 
came to a stand where he could rub his nose against the 
lad's shoulder. 

The pony arched his neck and pressed it against the 
boy with a low whinny, which could not be mistaken. 
It meant to say, ^'I love you." 

It is twenty years since I saw that scene on that bright 
morning, but the memory of it is as fresh in my mind 
as if it were but yesterday. I can taste the very sweet- 
ness of the mountain air, and the tender blue mist which 
hung about the distant hills is plain in memory to-day, 
and I can see that handsome boy hugging his favorite 
pony and receiving in return all the affection which a 
loving horse knows how to give. 

I knew the boy well, so asked him where he got the 
pony. 

^'Out of Hill's drove." 

''You don't mean to say he's a broncho! He is too 
kind and gentle." 

''He is a broncho." 

"How did you break him? I supposed those fellows 
always had to be roped before they could be ridden." 

"Now don't you believe a word of it. The pony is 
the one Mr. Hill has been riding for two years, and every 
time he used him he had to rope him, bind him, pound 



THE TAMED BRONCHO 157 

him, and tear the ground up with him. But that was 
because the men who handled him did not take time to 
get his good-will. I have owned him three months and 
in all that time I haven't spoken a cross word to him — 
have I, Dick?" 

This proved to me that even a kind-hearted man may 
be mistaken in regard to what is necessary for an animal. 



THE REAL GOOD 

WHAT is the real good? " 
I asked in musing mood. 
''Order," said the law court; 

'^ Knowledge," said the school; 
"Truth," said the wise man; 

''Pleasure," said the fool; 
"Love," said the maiden; 

"Beauty," said the page; 
"Freedom," said the dreamer; 

"Home," said the sage; 
"Fame," said the soldier; 

"Equity," the seer — 
Spake my heart full sadly: 

"The answer is not here." 
Then, within my bosom. 

Softly, this I heard: 
"Each heart holds the secret — 

Kindness is the word." 

— John Boyle O^Reilly. 



158 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

DOGS OF LONG AGO 

rpHERE lived in Rome, under the Emperors Ves- 
^ pasian and Titus (a.d. 69-81) a man called Pliny, 
who gave up his life to the study of animals and plants. 
He not only watched their habits for himself, but he 
listened eagerly to all that travelers would tell him, and 
sometimes happened to believe too much, and wrote in 
his book things that were not true. Still there were a 
great many facts which he had found out for himself, 
and the stories he tells about animals are of interest to 
every one, partly because it seems good to think that 
dogs and horses and other creatures were just the same 
then as they are now. 

The dogs that Pliny writes about lived in all parts of 
the Roman Empire and were as faithful and devoted 
to their masters as our dogs are to us. One dog, called 
Hyrcanus, belonging to King Lysimachus, jumped upon 
the funeral pyre on which lay burning the dead body 
of his master. And so did another dog at the burial of 
Hiero of Syracuse. 

But during the lifetime of Pliny himself a dog's devo- 
tion in the heart of Rome touched even the Roman citi- 
zens, ashamed though they generally were of showing 
their feelings. It had happened that a plot against the 
life of the Roman Emperor, Nero, had been discovered, 
and the chief conspirator, Titus Sabinus, was put to 
death, together with some of his servants. One of these 
men had a dog of which he was very fond, and from the 





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kg 







BAYARD — A ST. BERNARD 

Frank Paton 



160 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

moment the man was thrown mto prison the dog could 
not be persuaded to move awa}^ from the door. 

At last there came a day when the man suffered the 
cruel death conmion m Rome for such offenses, and was 
thrown down a steep flight of stairs, where he broke his 
neck. A crowd had gathered around to see the sight, 
and in the midst of them all the dog managed to reach 
his master's side, and lay there, howling piteously. 

Then one of the crowd, moved with pity, threw the 
dog a piece of meat, but he only took it, and laid it across 
his master's mouth. By and by the men came for the 
body in order to throw it into the river Tiber. Even 
then the dog followed, and swam after it, and held it 
up, and tried to bring it to land. The people came out 
in multitudes from the houses to see what it was to be 
faithful unto death — and beyond it. 



SENATOR \^ST'S SPEECH OX THE DOG 

AT^EARS ago, in Missouri, George Vest, who afterward 
-■' became senator from that state, was engaged to 
try a suit against a man who had shot another man's 
dog. Here is the closing address he made to the jury: 

'^Gentlemen of the Jury: The best friend a man has 
in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. 
His son or daughter, that he has reared with loving care, 
may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and 
dearest to us, whom we trust with our happiness and 



J 



SENATOR VEST'S SPEECH ON THE DOG 16.1 

good name, may become traitors to their faith. The 
money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from 
him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputa- 
tion may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered 
action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees 
to do us honor when success is with us, may be the first 
to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its clouds 
upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that 
man can have in this selfish world, the one that never 
deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or 
treacherous, is his dog. 

^^ Gentlemen of the jury," the senator continued, ^'a 
man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, 
in health and sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground 
when the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, 
if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss 
the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the Vv^ounds 
and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of 
the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master 
as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, 
he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls 
to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its 
journey through the heavens. 

'^If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the 
world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no 
higher privilege than that of accompanying him, to guard 
against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when 
the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master 
in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold 



162 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, 
there by his grave-side will the noble dog be found, his 
head between his paws, his eyes sad, but open in alert 
watchfulness, faithful and true even in death." 

— George Vest. 



BUILDING OF THE NEST 

THEY'LL come again to the apple tree, 
Robin and all the rest, 
When the orchard branches are fair to see 

In the snow of the blossoms drest; 
And the prettiest thing in the world will be 
The building of the nest. 

Weaving it well so round and trim. 

Hollowing it with care; 
Nothing too far away for him. 

Nothing for her too fair ; — 
Hanging it safe on the topmost limb, 

Their castle in the air. 

So come to the trees with all j^our train 

When the apple blossoms blow, 
Through the April shimmer of sun and rain 

Go flying to and fro; 
And sing to our hearts as we watch again 

Your fairy building grow. 

— Margaret E. Sangster. 



"""TO 




BUILDING THE NEST 

H. P. Barnes 



164 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

GEORGE STEPHENSON AND THE 
MOTHER-BIRD 

GEORGE STEPHENSON, a Scotchman, was one of 
the world's most important inventors. He is 
sometimes spoken of as ^^the inventor of the railroad." 
To-day our country and every civiHzed country is covered 
with a network of railways. T\Tiat could the world do 
without them? Perhaps you imagine that we must 
always have had railroads. It does seem so. But 
George Stephenson is believed to have been the first 
man who thought of a locomotive; at least, he was the 
first to make and use one. 

There had indeed been a few short railroads; that is, a 
kind of road made with a rail track for wagons drawn by 
horses. Watt and others had invented engines to go 
by steam. But the engines that these men made were 
what are called ''stationary engines." A ''traveling 
engine" was quite another thing. And it was Stephen- 
son who had the inventive wit to make that. 

Perhaps you wonder that somebody didn't happen to 
think of this matter of the "traveling engine" and rail- 
roads sooner. Too bad the world had to wait so long 
for them. For it was not until 1825 that the first rail- 
road was opened, that between Stockton and Darlington 
in England. 

But, lest we forget it, here is the story of Mr. Stephen- 
son and his kind and beautiful thought for a poor mother- 
bird that had a broken heart : 



166 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

One day Stephenson went to an upper room in his 
house to close a window that had been left open for a 
long time. Two or three days afterward, as he was 
walking by, he noticed a bird dashing with all its might 
against the closed window, as if determined to break it. 
Wondering what the bird wanted, he thought he would 
open the window and see. 

At once the bird flew in and went to a corner of the 
room, where, as Mr. Stephenson found, it had its nest. 
The bird looked at the nest a moment and then flut- 
tered down to the floor as if broken-hearted. The little 
ones in the nest were all dead, they had had nothing to 
eat for so long! 

Coming to the nest and finding the mother bird and 
her four little ones all apparently dead, Stephenson's own 
heart was well-nigh broken. He picked up the mother 
bird, who still held in her beak the worm she had struggled 
so hard to get to her children! Stehpenson held the bird 
in his strong, gentle hand, trying to revive it, but in vain. 
It was dead. And the great inventor mourned for it 
many a day. 

— Dr. Simeon Gilbert. 



BE KIND 



BE kind, dear children. The world will bless 
The heart that delights to relieve distress - 
The hand that is ready to offer aid 
To child or animal made afraid. 
Be kind. 



THE BRAVE KANGAROO 167 

Be kind, dear children. The heart grows strong 
That shuns to be partner with any wrong; 
The noblest men that the earth has known 
Have lived not unto themselves alone. 
Be kind. 

Be kind, dear children, and you shall see 
Eyes look into yours so gratefully. 
Though lips speak not, there is language yet, 
And the heart of a brute will not forget. 
Be kind. 



THE BRAVE KANGAROO 

TN Australia there is a strange animal called the kan- 
-*■ garoo. It has large, powerful hind legs, but very 
small front legs. Instead of running, it leaps fifteen or 
twenty feet at a bound, and so can get over the ground 
very rapidly and can easily out-distance a horse or a dog. 

One evening the owner of a country estate was sitting 
on the balcony outside of his house, when he was sur- 
prised to notice a kangaroo lingering about, first coming 
near to the house, and then going away, as though half 
in doubt and fear what to do. At length she approached 
the water-pails, and taking a young one suffering from 
thirst from her pouch, held it to the water to drink. 

While her babe was satisfying its thirst the mother 
quivered all over with excitement, for she was only a 
few feet from the balcony on which the man was sitting 



168 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

watching her. As soon as the Uttle one finished drinking, 
it was replaced in the pouch and the mother kangaroo 
started off at a rapid pace. 

When we think how timid the kangaroo is by nature, 
we reahze what astonishing courage this affectionate 
mother showed. It is a pleasing ending to the story 
that the man who watched the brave mother was so 
affected by the scene, that from that time forward he 
could never shoot a kangaroo. 



THE HORSE'S PRAYER 

rxiO Thee, my Master, I offer my prayer: Feed me, 
^ water and care for me, and, when the day's work 
is done, provide me with shelter, a clean dry bed, and a 
stall wide enough for me to lie down in comfort. 

Always be kind to me. Talk to me. Your voice often 
means as much to me as the reins. Pet me sometimes, 
that I may serve you the more gladly and learn to love 
you. Do not jerk the reins, and do not whip me when 
going up hill. Never strike, beat, or kick me when I 
do not understand what you want, but give me a chance 
to understand you. Watch me, and if I fail to do your 
bidding, see if something is not wrong with my harness 
or feet. 

Do not check me so that I cannot have the free use of 
my head. If you insist that I wear blinders, so that I can- 
not see behind me as it was intended I should, I pray you 
be careful that the blinders stand well out from my eyes. 





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"^^^^^^^^^^^H 



170 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Do not overload me, or hitch me where water will 
drip on me. Keep me well shod. Examine my teeth 
when I do not eat; I may have an ulcerated tooth, and 
that, you know, is very painful. Do not tie my head 
in an unnatural position, or take away my best defense 
against flies and mosquitoes by cutting off my tail. 

I cannot tell you when I am thirsty, so give me clean, 
cool water often. Save me, by all means in your power, 
from that fatal disease — the glanders. I cannot tell 
you, in words, when I am, sick, so watch me, that by signs 
you may know my condition. • Give me all possible shelter 
from the hot sun, and put a blanket on me, not when I 
am working, but when I am standing in the cold. Never 
put a frosty bit in my mouth; first warm it by holding it 
a moment in your hands. 

I try to carry you and your burdens without a murmur, 
and wait patiently for you long hours of the day or night. 
Without the power to choose my shoes or path, I some- 
times fall on the hard pavements w^hich I have often 
prayed might not be of wood but of such a nature as to 
give me a safe and sure footing. Remember that I must 
be ready at any moment to lose my life in your service. 

And finally, my Master, when my useful strength 
is gone, do not turn me out to starve or freeze, or sell 
me to some cruel owner, to be slowly tortured and starved 
to death; but do Thou, my Master, take my life in the 
kindest way, and your God will reward you here and 
hereafter. You will not consider me irreverent if I ask 
this in the name of Him who was born in a Stable. 



WADE HAMPTON AND HIS CAT 171 

WADE HAMPTON AND HIS CAT 

WADE HAMPTON, a prominent officer in the Con- 
federate army during the Civil War, was noted 
for his daring. He afterward became governor of South 
Carolina, his native state. 

Before his election he had an immense Maltese cat 
named Tom, which measured three feet from the tip of 
his nose to the end of his tail. Tom was his constant 
companion, and after Mr. Hampton became governor, 
was with him when he took his daily walks. 

Sometimes the governor would go out on horseback. 
Then Tom would trot along at the horse's side, perfectly 
happy so long as he could keep up, or even keep his 
master in sight. 

When Mr. Hampton was elected governor it was a 
serious blow to Tom, for he could not be with his master 
all day as before. He made the best of it, however. 
Each morning he escorted his master to the gate, and 
each afternoon he would go to the gate again a little 
before the time when the governor would return, and 
wait for him. 

At one time the governor met with an accident and 
was brought home severely injured. His condition was 
so critical that strict orders were given that no one should 
be admitted to see him, but it was not long before Tom 
was allowed to enter the sick room. You may be sure 
the governor was glad to see him. 

— Adapted. 



172 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

LOUIS AGASSIZ 

T TAVE you never wondered how we know so 
^ ^ much about animals? How do men find out so 
much about their ways of hfe and their instincts? 

There are men who seem to be born for the purpose 
of finding out tliese things and then telling us what they 
have learned. 

Louis Agassiz was one of these. When he was a little 
child he began to take dehght in birds and beasts, fishes 
and insects. He felt toward them as if they were his 
friends. 

When he was a little older he was never so happy as 
when tramping the fields or searching along the banks of 
a lake or stream to find some new creature. When he 
was in college he was famihar with every beast, knew 
the different kinds of birds from hearing their songs, 
even when far away, and could give the names of all 
the fishes. He was very fond of pets, and at one time 
had in his room about forty birds which made their 
home in a small pine tree set up in one corner. 

Agassiz started in the world as a poor boy but he 
became one of the most learned men and greatest teachers 
of his time. He made kno^m to us a great many things 
that we did not know before about the world we live in 
and about our fellow creatures. 

.Ajnong many other important things that Agassiz used 
to teach his pupils is that they should always kill the fish 
they caught as soon as they were taken out of the 



I 




174 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

water. He said we should strike the fish on the back 
of the head with a stick or stone, because fish that die 
as soon as they are caught are much better than those 
that die slowly, and suffer before they die. Let us 
remember this the next time we go fishing. 



HAGGLES, THE INDIAN PONY 

13 AGGLES was a scrubby little Indian pony which 
'■' ^ had been cruelly turned out on the bare prairie in 
western Kansas to shift for himself. 

He was a sorry-looking little fellow, as he stood one 
morning, shivering in the cold wind, before the gate of 
a large cattle ranch owned by a Mr. Hudson. 

Mr. Hudson noticed him and started to drive him 
away. But his little daughter Lillian said: 

''Let him in, papa; he looks so hungry." 

Then Mr. Hudson opened the gate and the pony walked 
in as if he were at home. Mr. Hudson m^ade inquiries, 
but could find no owner, so Lillian claimed him and named 
him ''Haggles," because of his long tangled mane and 
tail. He was a good little creature and Lillian soon 
learned to ride him over the prairies. 

Next fall a public school was started two miles away, 
and every day Lillian would ride Haggles to the school 
and then send him home. About half-past three in the 
afternoon Mr. Hudson would saddle him and send him 
for Lilhan. If he got to the school too early he would 
wait patiently at the door till school was over. 



RAGGLES, THE INDIAN PONY 175 

That year there was a terrible bUzzard in Kansas. 
Many people lost their lives and thousands of cattle were 
frozen to death. The storm began at noon, and it became 
terribly cold. The snow blew so thick and fast and the 
air was so filled with blinding particles that men could 
see only a few feet. Some were lost and frozen to death 
while trying to get from their barns to their houses. 

Mrs. Hudson was afraid to trust Haggles to go for 
LiUian, but Mr. Hudson was ill and there was no one 
else to go. She went to the barn, put the saddle on him, 
and tied on plenty of warm wraps. Then she threw her 
arms around his shaggy neck and told him to be sure to 
bring Lillian home. He seemed to understand and 
trotted off in the direction of the schoolhouse. 

An hour passed slowly while the parents waited. When 
two hours had gone their anxiety was terrible, but soon 
after the shaggy form of Haggles was seen through the 
blinding snow, with Lillian safely on his back, bundled 
up from head to foot. 

The teacher had fastened her on the pony and given 
Haggles the rein, and with wonderful intelligence and 
endurance he had battled his way through the storm, 
and Lillian was no worse for her ride except for being 
chilled. 
— /. E. Stevens; adapted from ''Our Dumb Animals J' 



What do we live for if not to make the world less 
difficult for each other? — George Eliot, 



176 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

THE TWO NEIGHBORS 

I. THE PET CAT 

T^AINTY little ball of fur, sleek, and round, and fat, 
^-^ Yawning through the lazy hours, some one's household 

cat, 
Lying on a bed of down, decked in ribbons gay, 
What a pleasant Ufe you lead, whether night or day. 

Romping through the house at will, racing down the hall, 
Full of pretty, playful pranks, loved and praised by all. 
Wandering from room to room to find the choicest spot, 
Favored Httle household puss, happy is your lot. 

Sleeping on my lady's lap, or dozing by the grate, 

Fed with catnip tea if ill, what a lucky fate! 

Loved in life and mourned in death, and stuffed maybe at that, 

And kept upon the mantle shelf — dear pet cat. 

IL THE TRAMP CAT 

Poor little b,eggar cat, hollow-eyed and gaunt, 
Creeping down the alley-way like a ghost of want, 
Kicked and beat by thoughtless boys, bent on cruel play, 
What a sorry life you lead, whether night or day. 

Hunting after crusts and crumbs, gnawing meatless bones, 
Trembling at a human step, fearing bricks and stones, 
Shrinking at an outstretched hand, knowing only blows. 
Wretched little beggar cat, born to sufTer woes. 



O 



O 



t:^ 




178 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Stealing to an open door, craving food and heat, 
Frightened off with angry cries and broomed into the street. 
Tortured, teased, and chased by boys, through the lonely night, 
Homeless little beggar cat, sorry is your plight. 

Sleeping anywhere you can, in the rain and snow. 
Waking in the cold, gray dawn, wondering where to go^ 
Dying in the street at last, starved to death at that; 
Picked up by the scavenger — poor tramp cat ! 

— Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 



THE SWALLOW'S MESSAGE 

PIRANCIS THOMPSON was an English poet and 
-■- writer, and a great lover of birds. 

He had a beautiful garden, in which was a nest of 
swallows. One day in the early autumn he caught one 
of these swallows and fastened to one of its wings a small 
piece of oiled paper, on which were written the words, 
''Swallow, little swallow, I wonder where you pass the 
winter." 

The next spring the swallow came back to its nest in 
the garden at the usual time. Mr. Thompson observed 
it closely and noticed that something was fastened to 
one of its legs. He caught it and found a small piece 
of oiled paper on which were the words, ''Florence, at 
the house of Castellari. Cordial greetings to the friend 
in the north.'' 



HENRY M. STANLEY AND THE CAT 179 



HENRY M. STANLEY AND THE CAT 

TTENRY M. STANLEY became a famous man by 
'^ ^ making a daring journey to the heart of Africa. 
The hardships and dangers he endured are beyond de- 
scription, for he traveled through vast swamps and forests, 
where white men are in great danger from fevers and 
other diseases. 

In some parts of the country Uved savages, who tried 
to kill Stanley and his men, and, but for the leader's 
brave spirit, he never would have come back alive. The 
explorers had to travel on foot for many hundreds of 
miles, and all their food and supplies had to be carried 
on the backs of natives, whom Stanley hired. Sometimes 
these men would not obey, but turned against Stanley. 
Then he was in great danger, but his bold spirit carried 
him through. 

Soon after Stanley had returned to his home in Eng- 
land, he began to write a book about his travels. He 
called his book ^'Through the Dark Continent." He had 
to draw for his description of Africa a good many maps 
and charts, which he used to spread out upon the floor. 

One day a pet cat that belonged to Stanley curled up 
on one of these charts and went to sleep. Soon the ex- 
plorer wanted to use the chart. His assistant was about 
to drive out poor puss, but Mr. Stanley stopped him, 
saying, ^^ Don't disturb the cat; we can get on without 



180 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

the chart until she wakes up. If you only knew how good 
the sight of that Enghsh cat, cozily curled up before a fire, 
is to me, you would not wish to have her move." So 
puss slept on. 

After having lived among wild and savage tribes of 
men, amid sights very often brutal and shocking, the 
sight of that cat resting so comfortably before the hearth 
gave him a sense of peace, quiet, and happiness. How 
different was Mr. Stanley from the cruel people who, 
when they move from their houses, turn their cats out 
of doors and leave them to starve and to be chased by 
dogs and bad boys. 



CARRIER PIGEONS 

T^ID you ever hear of a pigeon telegraph system? 
^^ That sounds rather curious, does it not, but 
pigeons are very swift on the wing, and long before the 
days of telegraphs and telephones many messages were 
sent great distances by trained carrier pigeons. 

Away back in old Egypt, in the days of the Pharaohs, 
these birds were used to carry important news. Especi- 
ally were they used by sea-faring men, who carried them on 
their ships in readiness to convey messages back to those 
at home. There are inscriptions on some of the old Egyp- 
tian monuments telling of messages received in this way. 

In Greece and Rome, carrier pigeons were also used. 
They took all sorts of messages — sometimes friendly 



182 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

notes and again most important State despatches. WHien 
I tell you that pigeons can travel at the rate of thirty 
miles an hour, and fly for several hours without rest, 
you can see that in the days when there were no tele- 
phones, telegraphs, or trains, the pigeons were very 
important helpers of man. 

In olden times, towns were built in Eastern countries 
as stations for the carrier pigeons, and at these places 
large numbers of birds were kept. They flew back and 
forth at regular times with messages which sometimes 
were fastened to the leg or body of the bird, or to the 
under part of the wing. These messages were always 
written in a small hand and on very thin material 
which could be folded into a tiny package. 

When Nansen, the great Norwegian explorer, left his 
home near Christiana to explore the North Pole regions, 
he took with him a favorite pigeon, and when hundreds of 
miles away let it go with a message of love to his family. 
One day Mrs. Nansen heard a picking sound on the 
window-pane, and lo ! there was the favorite dove waiting 
to be let in. How eagerly she opened the window and 
took in the bird! The message told of the safety of her 
husband. 

In times of war, carrier pigeons have been of great 
value in sending word from one part of the army to 
another or in sending messages from those inside a be- 
sieged city to friends outside. Sometimes the enemy 
used trained hawks to attack and injure the pigeons so 
that they would fall to the ground. For this reason 



-_j 



CARRIER PIGEONS 183 

several pigeons were often sent out at the same time 
with the same message, so that one might be sure to 
reach its destination safely. 

Sometimes, too, in order to conceal the important mes- 
sage, a code system was used. During the siege of Paris 
about forty years ago, pigeons were regularly sent be- 
tween Paris and Tours. It is stated that two million 
despatches were carried back and forth in this way. 
The pigeons were carried out of Paris in balloons. 

I am sure some of . you are wondering how pigeons 
know where to go. Do you think that a pigeon can be 
trained as are dogs and ponies? Not at all. This is the 
way it is done: At first the bird is taken in a basket or 
box a short distance from home and freed; the next time 
it is taken farther; and so on, until experience and strength 
have been gained. 

The bird's first wish when set free is to get home as 
soon as possible. Straight up in the air it rises to a 
considerable height, swift as an arrow from a bow, 
then, circling around, gets its bearing and starts off in 
a direct line for home. 

Pigeons are very strong on the wing, even flying fast 
against a hard wind. They have great keenness of 
sight. They can see much farther than a person. 

Whenever we think of doves or pigeons, we think of 
their gentleness. Their soft cooings in the dove-cote, 
or on the roof of the barn, are soothing and pleasant to 
hear. Yet with all their gentleness these birds have 
wonderful endurance and courage. 



184 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

A HERO OF PEACE 

ly/TENTHGN is a great, shaggy, tan-colored St. Ber- 
-*--*■ nard dog with a snow-white breast, long ears, 
and big brown eyes that look lovingly up into your face 
as he wags his long bushy tail. Menthon lives up in 
the mountains of Switzerland. His home is in a large 
stone house in the Great Saint Bernard mountain-pass. 

During snow-storms travelers often lose their way in 
the pass, and it is the business of the monks, Menthon's 
masters, who live in the large stone monastery, to go 
out with their St. Bernard dogs and rescue these lost 
travelers. 

One day Menthon was sent out by himself in a terrible 
storm. How the wind did blow! It drove the cold 
snow in Menthon's thick, long hair and made him shiver. 
He pressed on against the wind, going to the places where 
travelers were most often lost. His black nose was 
always close to the ground, smelling, smelling every- 
where. Presently his keen scent told him that a man 
had passed that way. He plunged forward through the 
drifts, throwing the snow high in the air as he ran. 

In a few moments he came upon the man, who was 
already half buried by the snow. Menthon touched him 
with his paw, and licked his face with his big, red tongue, 
but the man did not stir. Menthon knew in a moment 
that unless he got help the man would die. Kicking the 
snow right and left, the dog made a hollow around the 
man. Then away he went barking loudly for help. 






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186 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

The good monks heard the dog, and three of them 
quickly followed to where the man was. Lifting him on 
their shoulders, they carried him to the monastery. Men- 
thon followed them, wagging his tail for joy, because he 
knew he had saved the life of another stranger. In a 
few hours the man revived, and after the snow-storm 
passed away, was ready to continue his journey. 

Menthon was named for a nobleman, Bernard de Men- 
thon, who, almost a thousand years ago, took pity on 
the travelers who had to cross the great pass, and built 
a rest-house up among the mountains. Some St. Augus- 
tine monks offered to go and live there and to take care 
of the travelers. After awhile the dogs that the monks 
used to help find the people lost in the snow became 
known as St. Bernard dogs. — World's Chronicle. 



WHY THE QUAKER BOUGHT A HORSE 

"F^URING one cold winter in France the pavements 
^^ became very slippery from the frost, and did not 
afford any hold for the horses' feet. One of these 
animals, harnessed to a large cart heavily laden with 
wood, was utterly unable to advance a step while 
the carter, a powerful fellow, was belaboring the poor 
brute with his heavy whip. Breathless, and struggling 
violently, the poor horse was so exhausted by his con- 
tinued and severe efforts, that, in spite of the cold, he 
was covered with sweat and foam. 



WHY THE QUAKER BOUGHT A HORSE 187 

Now, throwing himself into his collar with desperate 
exertion, he tugged so that the stones beneath his feet 
threw out sparks of fire; now, far from being discouraged, 
he backed a few paces to take breath, and again tried, 
but in vain, to draw his load. Twice he nearly fell. The 
carter raised him by the bit, leaving the mouth of the 
animal raw and bleeding. A third time, after a violent 
effort, he fell on his knees. He could not recover him- 
self, but fell on his side, where he lay trembling, bathed 
in sweat, and his eyes fixed on his brutal owner. 

The rage of his master then knew no bounds; and 
after breaking his whip over the head of the horse, that, 
kept down by the shafts, lay groaning on the stones, 
he began kicking the unfortunate animal on the nostrils. 

At this moment a Quaker stopped, and pushed his 
way through the crowd. 

^^ Friend," said the Quaker in a calm tone, showing 
the carter some money which he held in his hand, ''wilt 
thou sell me thy horse for this gold?" 

"What do ye say?" inquired the carter; ''will you 
give me that sum for the brute?" 

"All of it," said the Quaker. 

"But why should you buy the horse?" 

"That is nothing to thee. If thou sellest thy horse, 
thee must unload thy cart, unharness the horse, and 
assist him to rise." 

"Is the gold good?" 

"Take it to the nearest shop and inquire." 

The carter soon returned, saying, "It is a bargain." 



188 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

''Then unharness the poor horse, for he is crushed by 
the weight of his burden." 

The bystanders lent their aid to free the horse. The 
poor animal was bleeding in many places; and such was 
his terror of the carter, that he trembled at his approach. 

''But I cannot tell why you bought the old brute," 
said the carter. 

"I can tell thee; it was to free him from thy cruelty 
that I bought him," replied the Quaker. — Eugene Sue. 



SIR ISAAC NEWTON AND DIAMOND 

OIR IS.\.^C NEWTON was one of the most remark- 
^ able men who ever lived. He studied and dis- 
covered many secrets of nature. The poet, Alexander 
Pope, in his epitaph on him, wrote these lines: 

"Nature and all her works lay hid in night: 
God said, 'Let Newton be,' and all was light." 

One day Newton saw an apple fall from a tree, and it 
set him to thinking what made the apple fall. From 
that little incident he worked out what is called the law 
of gravitation, by which can be explained all the move- 
ments of the heavenly bodies. 

He made the first reflecting telescope and was the first 
to show that light is a mixture of different colored rays. 
It would take a long time to tell what other wonderful 
things he found out. Yet Newton was so modest that 
at the close of his life he said he felt like a child who 



190 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

had been picking a few pebbles on the shore, leaving the 
great sea before him unexplored. 

Newton had a little pet dog, named Diamond. One 
day he left Diamond in a room where he could reach 
some very valuable papers which had cost Sir Isaac many 
years of hard toil. When the scientist came back he 
found that the mischievous little dog had ruined the 
papers. It was enough to discourage any man to lose 
the labor of years, but Sir Isaac did not lose his self- 
control. ^'O, Diamond," he said, ^^you little know what 
you have done," and then patiently went to work again. 
It took him long years to rewrite the papers. 



WHO OWNS THE FARM 

WE bought the house and the apple trees, 
And the spring where the cresses grew; 
The old stone wall and the slope of grass 
All studded with violets blue. 

We bought and paid for them honestly, 

In the usual business way; 
'Twas settled, we thought, yet there are some 

Who dispute our title each day. 

A phoebe came to the eastern porch, 

Where I loitered one sunny day. 
And told me that porch was hers, not mine. 

Just as plainly as bird could say, 

That she didn't want me prying there 
Into all her family affairs, 



WHO OWNS THE FARM 191 

And asked me, by pert little gestures, 
If I had no family cares. 

The vireo perched high above me. 

In the great branching apple tree, 
And said: "I'm here, I'm here, I'm here," 

As though 'twere important to me. 

And then he most saucily asked me, 

''^\lio are you?" in such an odd way 
That I felt quite like an intruder, 

And I hadn't a word to say. 

A pair of robins have made their home 

In that very same apple tree. 
And they plainly tell me every day 

That they don't care a straw for me. 

And a pair of chippies think the limbs 

Are exactly the proper height; 
They've been looking round some time, I know, 

For a suitable building site. 

What right have we in this place, think you, 
When the crows make free with our corn, 

And the brown thrush says "good-by" each night, 
And the blue jays call us at morn? 

The chimney belongs to the swallows, 

The piazza's owned by the wren; 
We'll take care to see our title's clear. 

When we purchase a farm again. 

— Kate M. Post. 



192 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

SOME ITALIAN CUSTOMS 

ly/TR. W. W. STORY, the American sculptor, who Uved 
'^ ■*■ in Rome for many years, has given a very inter- 
esting description of a custom which is observed every 
year before the Church of St. Antonio. According to 
this custom, all the horses, mules, and donkeys are taken 
to the church to receive a blessing from the priest. The 
doors are thrown wide open; the church and the altar 
are seen within, resplendent with candles, and the crowd 
pours in and out. 

The priest stands at the door, and as the animals pass 
in procession before him they receive his blessing. All 
the horses in Rome come, from the common cab horse 
to the high-bred steed of the prince. Many are adorned 
with glittering trappings of scarlet and tinsel, with tufts 
and plumes of gay feathers nodding at their heads. The 
donkeys come, too, and often bray back their thanks to 
the priest. 

This is the blessing of Saint Antonio, ^'All honor to 
thee, good saint, who blesseth in thy large charity, not 
man alone, but that humble race who do his work and 
bear his burdens, and murmur not under his tyrannical 
inflictions." 

There is another interesting custom of which travelers 
who go to Venice tell us. This is the feeding of the 
pigeons in the Square of St. Mark. The story is that long 
ago carrier pigeons brought news to the Venetians at 
a time of siege, and in token of their gratitude to the 




FEEDING THE PIGEONS 

H . P. Barnes 



194 HEROES AND ORE ATHE ARTS 

useful birds, the rulers passed a law that all the pigeons in 
Venice should be fed each day in the public square. For 
many years this was done at the expense of the state, 
until a kind lady left a sum of money in her will to be 
used for this purpose. 

It is a very beautiful sight each day, just as the old 
clock tower chimes the noon hour, to see the myriads 
of pigeons come flying from all directions to be fed. 
There are booths where travelers may purchase cornu- 
copias full of corn to throw to the birds, for all like to 
have a part in the festive scene. 



A GOOD SHOT 

/^NCE there was a boy who was a good marksman 
^-^ with a stone or a sling-shot, or a bow and arrow, 
or a cross-bow, or an air-gun, or anything he took aim 
with. So he went about all day, aiming at everything 
he came near. Even at his meals he would think about 
good shots at the clock, or the cat, or the flies on the wall, 
or anything else he chanced to see. 

Near where he lived there lived a little bird that had 
a nest and five young birds. So many large mouths in 
small heads, always open wide for food, kept her hard 
at work. From dawn to dark she flew here and there, 
over fields, and woods, and roads, getting worms, and 
flies, and bugs, and seeds, and such things as she knew 
were good for her young birds. It was a wonder to 
see how much food those five small things could eat. 



A GOOD SHOT 195 

What she brought each day would have filled that 
nest full to the top, yet they ate it all and asked for 
more before daylight the next morning. Though it was 
such hard work, she was glad to do it, and went on day 
after day, always flying off with a gay chirp, and back 
with a bit of some kind of food. Though she did not 
eat much herself, except what stuck to her bill after she 
had fed her little ones, yet she never let them want, not 
even the smallest and weakest of them. The little fellow 
could not ask as loudly as the others, yet she always 
fed him first. 

One day, when she had picked up a worm, and perched 
a minute on the wall before flying to her nest, the good 
marksman saw her, and of course aimed at her, and hit 
her in the side. She was much hurt and in great pain, 
yet she fluttered and limped, and dragged herself to the 
foot of the tree where her nest was, but she could not 
fly up to her nest, for her wing was broken. She chirped 
a little and the young ones heard her, and as they were 
hungry they chirped back loudly. She knew all their 
voices, even the weak note of the smallest of all; but she 
could not come up to them, nor even tell them why she 
did not come. 

When she heard the call of the smallest one she tried 
again to rise, but only one of her wings would move, and 
that just turned her over on the side of the broken wing. 
All the rest of that day the little mother lay there, and 
when she chirped, her children answered, and when they 
chirped, she answered, only when the good marksman 



196 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

chanced to pass by; then she kept quite still. But her 
voice grew fainter and weaker, and late in the day the 
young ones could not hear it any more, but she could 
still hear them. 

Some time in the night the mother bird died, and in 
the morning she lay there quite cold and stiff, with her 
dim eyes still turned up to the nest where her young ones 
were dying of hunger. But they did not die so soon. 
All day long they slept, until their hunger waked them, 
and then called until they were so tired they fell 
asleep again. 

The next night was very cold and the young birds 
missed their mother's warm breast, and before day- 
dawn they all died, one after the other; excepting the 
smallest, which was lowest down in the nest. In the 
morning he pushed up his head and opened his yellow 
bill to be fed; but there was no one to feed him, and so 
he died, too, at last, with his mouth wide open and empty. 

And so the good marksman had killed six birds with 
one shot — the mother and her five young ones. Do 
you not think he must be a proud boy? Should you not 
Uke to do the same? If you know him, please read this 
little tale to him. He may like to hear it. — Joseph 
Kirkland. 

If all the birds were destroyed, men could not live 
upon the earth. — Michelet. 



THE BUNDLE WAS I 197 

THE BUNDLE WAS I 

A GENTLEMAN, who was himself the small boy of 
-^^^ the story, related this incident: 

''My father," said he, ''was very fond of horses. He 
generally had from one to five in his stable. Among 
these was Fan, the family horse and pet of all. 

"She was so gentle that I, a little fellow in kilts, was 
allowed to play around her head or heels just as I pleased. 

"One day Fan was hitched up in a wagon and when 
everything was ready father jumped in, took the reins, 
and gave the word to start. Fan did not move a step, 
which surprised my father very much, as she had always 
before been very willing to go. 

"My father took the whip and hghtly touched her, 
but still she did not stir. By and by my father got out 
of patience and gave her a sharp stroke, when, to his 
wonder, he saw her lower her head and carefully take 
hold of a small bundle with her teeth and throw it to 
one side. Then she started off at a brisk trot. 

"As the small bundle proved to be /, you can imagine 
that old Fan was after that petted more than ever." 
— Adapted from Our Dumb Animals. 



In the works of mercy that engage 

The minds and hands of thousands, we behold 

Signs of a blessed future. 

— William Cullen Bryants 



198 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 



THE BIRDS OF KILLINGWORTH 

npHINK of your woods and orchards without birds! 
A Of empty nests that cHng to boughs and beams 
As in an idiot's brain remembered words 

Hang empty 'mid the cobwebs of his dreams! 
Will bleat of flocks or bellowing of herds 

Make up for the lost music, when your teams 
Drag home the stingy harvest, and no more 
The feathered gleaners follow to your door f 

What ! would you rather see the incessant stir 

Of insects in the windrows of the hay, 
And hear the locust and the grasshopper 

Their melancholy hurdy-gurdies play? 
Is this more pleasant to you than the whir 

Of meadow lark, and her sweet roundelay, 
Or twitter of little fieldfares, as you take 
Your nooning in the shade of bush and brake? 

You call them thieves and pillagers; but know 
They are the winged wardens of your farms. 

Who from the corn fields drive the insidious foe. 
And from your harvests keep a hundred harms; 

Even the blackest of them all, the crow, 

Renders good service as your man-at-arms, 

Crushing the beetle in his coat of mail 

And crying havoc on the slug and snail. 

— Henry W. Longfellow. 



200 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

THE LION 

A LTHOUGH lions are usually very fierce, sometimes 
-^"^ they form strong attachments to their keepers, 
and for dogs and other animals. 

A Uttle dog was once thrown into a lion's den. The 
lion not only spared the dog's life, but made him his pet. 
One day the lion and the dog were very hungry. When 
food was brought for them the dog snapped at the first 
morsel. This made the lion angry, and in a moment of 
excitement he dealt the dog a blow which killed him. 
From that time the lion pined away, would not eat, and 
soon died, apparently of grief. 

There is an old story of a Roman governor who treated 
one of his slaves, named Androclus, so cruelly that he ran 
away to a desert and crept into a cave. To his horror, 
the cave was a lion's den, and a large lion came out toward 
him. Androclus expected to be killed at once, but the 
lion came up and held out his paw as if to ask him to 
look at it. He looked it over and found a thorn which 
he pulled out. The lion was relieved of his pain and 
licked Androclus' hand to show his gratitude. 

After a time Androclus ventured back to the place 
where he used to live and was taken up as a runaway 
slave. He was condemned to be eaten by a wild beast 
before a great crowd of people. A large lion had been 
caught and Androclus was thrown into a place where the 
lion was let in upon him. The lion came bounding up, 
and the people expected to see the slave torn to pieces. 



U2 



K 

O 

O 

t^ 
I— I 

a 
I 




202 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

What was their surprise to see the great creature fawn 
before him hke a dog that had found his master! 

It was the same hon Androclus had met in the desert, 
and the grateful animal would not hurt the man who 
had taken the thorn from his foot. 



THE DOCTOR'S HORSE 

A PROMINENT doctor in Winnipeg had for about 
-^^^ twenty years a horse which he called his partner. 
One stormy night the doctor had a hurry call from the 
outskirts of the city. He drove full speed to the house, 
threw the blanket over the horse, picked up his bag, and 
rushed in, leaving his partner unhitched as he always did. 

His patient was an old lady, who had fallen and dis- 
located her shoulder, and the doctor worked over her for 
three hours before he could go home. 

When at last he went out, he found the horse with 
his head turned toward home. The blanket had blown 
off, and a cold sleet had fallen, freezing in a coating of 
ice. The doctor got into the carriage and drove home. 

The next morning he called to see the old lady again. 
As he drove to the house, he noticed the tracks made 
by his carriage the night before. He was surprised and 
touched to find that during the three hours of the storm 
the horse many times had started for home. Once 
he even went half the way, but every time he had turned 
back, because he could not bear to leave the doctor. 



LORD SHAFTESBURY 203 

LORD SHAFTESBURY 

T ORD SHAFTESBURY was a prominent English 
*^ statesman. He was rich, talented, and powerful, 
but he used all his great gifts to help the weak and 
unfortunate. 

When he was a young man there were thousands of 
poor little children working long da^^s in coal mines and 
factories, and there were no laws to prevent it or to 
protect them from great cruelty. Lord Shaftesbury 
turned aside from a life of ease and pleasure and became 
the champion of these children. He went into Parlia- 
ment and, through his great influence, laws were passed 
which removed this great evil and many others. 

One day a little girl in London wanted to cross one of 
the streets, but it was so choked with carriages and 
teams that she could not cross alone without great 
danger of being killed. 

She walked up and down looking into the faces of men, 
trying to find some one who would help her. Some were 
hard and stern, some were in great haste and she did 
not dare to speak to these. After a time she saw a kind- 
looking old gentleman and she went up to him and whis- 
pered timidly, ''Please, sir, will you help me over?" 
The kind old gentleman did as she asked. He was Lord 
Shaftesbury. 

Afterward, when he told the story, he said, ''That little 
girl's trust in me is one of the greatest compliments I 
ever had in my life." 



204 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

CHEER UP 

A LITTLE bird sings, and he sings all day - 
' ' Cheer up ! Cheer up ! Cheer up!" 
No matter to him if the skies be gray — 

' ' Cheer up ! Cheer up ! Cheer up ! ' ' 
He flies o'er the fields of waving corn, 

And over the ripening wheat; 
He answers the lark in the early morn 

In cadences cheery and sweet. 
And only these two little words he sings — 

''Cheer up! Cheer up! Cheer up!" 

A message to earth which he gladly brings — 

"Cheer up! Cheer up! Cheer up! ^'^ 

He sings in a voice that is blithe and bold — 

"Cheer up! Cheer up! Cheer up!" 
And little cares he for the storm or cold — 

" Cheer up ! Cheer up ! Cheer up!" 
And when in the winter the snow comes down. 

And fields are all frosty and bare, 
He flies to the heart of the busy town, 

And sings just as cheerily there. 
He chirps from his perch on my window-sill — 

"Cheer up! Cheer up! Cheer up!" 
This message he brings with a right good-will - 

"Cheer up! Cheer up! Cheer up!" 

This dear little messenger can but say 
"Cheer up! Cheer up! Cheer up!" 

As over the housetops he makes his way — 
" Cheer up ! Cheer up ! Cheer up!" 



206 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Oh, let us all learn frora this httle bird 

A lesson we surely should heed; 
For if we all uttered hut one bright word 
The world would be brighter indeed! 
If only Earth's children would blithely say 

'^ Cheer up! Cheer up! Cheer up!'' 
How jolly a world would ours be to-day — 
' ' Cheer up ! Cheer up ! Cheer up!'' 

— Eva Best in Child-Life. 



ROBERT BURNS' LOVE FOR ANIMALS 

WHEREVER the English language is spoken the 
poems and songs of Robert Burns are read and 
sung. But to the Scotch people is he especially dear, 
for no other native of that country is so highly honored. 

Burns was born in a lowly, thatched cottage, and had 
to work very hard on a farm all his life. But in spite 
of all, his genius burst forth, and he has left poems which 
will do people of all time good to read. The charm of 
Burns' poems lies in the boundless sympathy that he had 
for every living thing, no matter how lowly. 

One day he was plowing in a meadow when he 
upturned the nest of a field-mouse. The soft nest was 
torn to pieces, and the helpless young mice were thrown 
out of their snug home. Then Burns' heart was very 
sore, and he wrote the poem, ^'To a Mouse, on Turning 
Up Her Nest with the Plow." 



\ 




208 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Burns wrote a beautiful poem about the death of his 
pet lamb, and a New Year's greeting to his old horse 
Maggie, showing how much he thought of his farm ani- 
mals. Once he saw a wounded hare pass by, and imme- 
diately he wrote a poem expressing his indignation against 
the cruel sportsman who had left the hare to creep away 
and die in misery. Another time he heard a thrush sing 
on a January morning, and the bird's song awakened a 
melody in his own heart which he put into a beautiful 
poem. 



WHEN OLD JACK DIED 

WHEN Old Jack died we stayed from school (they said 
At home we needn't go that day), and none 
Of us ate any breakfast — only one. 
And that was papa — and his eyes were red 
When he came round where we were, by the shed, 
Where Jack was lying, half-way in the sun 
And half-way in the shade. When we begun 
To cry out loud, pa turned and dropped his head 
And went away ; and mamma, she went back 
Into the kitchen. Then, for a long while, 

All to ourselves, like, we stood there and cried; 
We thought so many good things of Old Jack, 
And funny things — although we didn't smile ; 
We couldn't only cry when Old Jack died. 

When Old Jack died, it seemed a human friend 
Had suddenly gone from us: that some face 



WHEN OLD JACK DIED 209 

That we had loved to fondle and embrace 
From babyhood, no more would condescend 
To smile on us forever. We might bend 
With tearful eyes above him, interlace 
Our chubby fingers o'er him, romp and race. 
Plead with him, call and coax — aye, we might send 
The old hahoo up for him, whistle, hist, 
(If sobs had let us), or, as wildly vain. 

Snapped thumbs, called ''Speak," and he had not replied; 
We might have gone down on our knees and kissed 
The tousled ears_, and yet they must remain 

Deaf, motionless, we knew, when Old Jack died. 

When Old Jack died it seemed to us, some way, 
That all the other dogs in town were pained 
With our bereavement, and some that were chained 
Even, unslipped their collars on that day 
To visit Jack in state, as though to pay 

A last sad tribute there; while neighbors craned 
Their heads above the high board fence, and deigned 
To sigh ''Poor dog!" remembering how they 
Had cuffed him when alive, perchance, because 
For love of them, he leaped to lick their hands — 
Now that he could not, were they satisfied? 
We children thought that, as we crossed his paws. 
And o'er his grave, 'way down the bottom-lands, 

Wrote '^Our First Love Lies Here/' when Old Jack died. 

— James Whitcornh Riley. 



210 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

DICK MARTIN, THE BRAVE IRISHMAN 

A BOUT one hundred years ago there Hved in England 
-^^^ a very learned and eloquent lawyer named Lord 
Erskine. This lawyer, who was a member of the British 
Parliament, was so shocked at the terrible cruelty to 
animals, which he saw about him, that he decided some- 
thing should be done to prevent it. 

At that time there were no laws to protect dumb crea- 
tures, and most men felt that if they owned animals 
they could abuse and torture them in any way the}^ 
pleased, and no one had an}^ right to interfere. 

As Lord Erskine was one of the most povv erful members 
of Parliament, he thought that he would try to get a 
law passed to prevent cruelty to animals. He made 
an eloquent speech, but the other members thought that 
it was foolish for them to notice the sufferings of animals. 
They made so much sport of Lord Erskine and his speech 
that nothing was done, and he gave the matter up in 
despair. 

About eleven years after, there was a member of the 
House of Commons from Galway, Ireland, whose name 
was Richard Martin. Every one called him Dick Martin. 

Dick Martin was noted for two things — his love of 
animals, and his readiness to punish any one who insulted 
him. He was warm-hearted and impulsive, and, like 
Lord Erskine, decided that he would try to get a law 
passed to protect animals from cruelty. He made a 
speech in the House of Commons, but he had not gotten 



212 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

very far before he was interrupted by jeers and laughter, 
just as Lord Erskine had been eleven ^^ears before. 

Mr. Martin stopped his speech and turning round, said 
that he would be very much obliged to the gentlemen 
who had insulted him if they would give him their names. 
There was silence at once, but no names were given, and 
Mr. Martin went on with* his speech and was not dis- 
turbed any more. 

The result of that speech was the first law ever passed 
for' the prevention of cruelty to animals, and from that 
time the spirit of mercy has been extending over the 
civilized world. 

All honor to the brave Irishman who so nobly began 
the good work. 

SOMEBODY'S MOTHER 

npHE woman was old and ragged and gray, 
■^ And bent with the chill of the winter's day; 
The street was wet with a recent snow 
And the woman's feet were aged and slow. 
She stood at the crossing and waited long. 
Alone, uncared for, amid the throng 
Of human beings who passed her by. 
Nor heeded the glance of her anxious eye. 

Down the street, with laughter and shout, 
Glad in the freedom of ''school let out," 
Came the boys like a flock of sheep. 
Hailing the snow piled white and deep; 



SOMEBODY'S MOTHER 213 

Past the woman so old and gray 

Hastened the children on their way; 

Nor offered a helping hand to her, 

So meek, so timid, afraid to stir 

Lest the carriage-wheels or the horses' feet 

Should crowd her down in the slippery streetc 

At last came one of the merry troop — 
The gayest laddie of all the group; 
He paused beside her and whispered low: 
'Til help you across if you wish to go." 
Her aged hand on his strong young arm 
She placed; and so, without hurt or harm, 
He guided the trembling feet along, 
Proud that his own were firm and strong. 
Then back again to his friends he went, 
His young heart happy and well content. 

"She's somebody's mother, boys, you know, 

For all she's aged and poor and slow; 

And I hope some fellow will lend a hand 

To help my mother, you understand. 

If ever she's poor and old and gray. 

When her own dear boy is far away." 

And somebody's mother bowed low her head 

In her home that night, and the prayer she said 

Was, ''God be kind to that noble boy, 

Who is somebody's pride and somebody's joy." 



214 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

THE CATTLE TRAIN 

XT EARLY every American boy and girl has read some 
■^^ of the stories of Louisa M. Alcott. One reason 
that her books are so good is that she loved and sym- 
pathized with young people, and so was able to make 
the boys and girls in her stories seem real. You laugh 
and cry when you read about the things they did, just 
as you would if you were really living with them and 
taking part yourself. 

Miss Alcott also loved animals, and never missed an 
opportunity to try to help them when she saw them 
being abused or in trouble. The following story shows 
how observant she was of the suffering of dumb animals. 
Miss Alcott was travehng on a train which stopped for 
a few minutes at a country station. She says: 

^'l amused myself by looking out of a window at a water- 
fall which came tumbling over the rocks, and spread into 
a wide pool that flowed up to the railway. Close by 
stood a cattle train; and the mournful sounds that came 
from it touched my heart. 

^^Full in the hot sun stood the cars; and every crevice 
of room between the bars across the doorways was filled 
with pathetic noses, sniffing eagerly at the sultry gusts 
that blew by, with now and then a fresher breath from 
the pool that lay dimpling before them. How they must 
have suffered, in sight of water, with the cool dash of 
the fall tantalizing them, and not a drop to wet their 
poor parched mouths! 



216. HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

'^The cattle lowed dismally, and the sheep tumbled one 
over the other, in their frantic attempts to reach the 
blessed air, bleating so plaintively the while, that I was 
tempted to get out and see what I could do for them. 
But the time was nearly up; and while I hesitated two' 
little girls appeared, and did the kind deed better than 
I could have done it. 

''I could not hear what they said; but as they worked 
away so heartily, their little tanned faces grew lovely to 
me, in spite of their old hats, their bare feet, and their 
shabby gowns. One pulled off her apron, spread it on 
the grass, and emptying upon it the berries from her 
pail, ran to the pool and returned with it dripping, to 
hold it up to the suffering sheep, who stretched their hot 
tongues gratefully to meet it, and lapped the precious 
water with an eagerness that made little barefoot's task 
a hard one. 

" But to and fro she ran, never tired, though the small 
pail was soon empty; and her friend meanwhile pulled 
great handfuls of clover and grass for the cows, and having 
no pail, filled her ^ ' picking-dish " with water to throw on 
the poor dusty noses appeahng to her through the bars. 
I wish I could have told those tender-hearted children 
how beautiful their compassion made that hot, noisy 
place, and what a sweet picture I took away with me of 
those two little sisters of charity." 



THEY DIDN'T THINK 217 

THEY DIDN'T THINK 

ONCE a trap was baited 
With a piece of cheese; 
It tickled so a little mouse 

It almost made him sneeze. 
An old rat said, ''There's danger — 

Be careful where you go!" 
''Nonsense!" said the other, 

"I don't think you know." 
So he walked in boldly; 

Nobody in sight, 
First he took a nibble, 

Then he took a bite; 
Closed the trap together, 

Snapped as quick as wink, 
Catching mousey fast there, 

'Cause he didn't think. 

Once a little turkey, 

Fond of her own way, 
Wouldn't ask the old ones 

Where to go or stay. 
She said, "I am not a baby, 

Here I am half grown; 
Surely I am big enough 

To run around alone!" 
Off she went; but somebody, 

Hiding, saw her pass; 
Soon, hke snow, her feathers 

Covered all the grass; 



218 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

So she made a supper 
For a sly young mink, 

'Cause she was so headstrong 
That she wouldn't think. 



Once there was a robin 

Lived outside the door, 
Who wanted to go inside 

And hop upon the floor. 
''No, no," said the mother, 

''You must stay with me; 
Little birds are safest 

Sitting in a tree." 
"I don't care!" said robin. 

And gave his tail a fling; 
"I don't think the old folks 

Know quite everything!" 
Down he flew, and kitty seized him 

Before he'd time to wink; 
"Oh!" he cried, "I'm sorry, 

But I didn't think!" 



Now, my httle children, 

You who read this song. 
Don't you see what trouble 

Comes from thinking wrong? 
Can't you take a warning 

From their dreadful fate, 
Who began their thinking 

When it was too late? 



o 
o 

> 



o 






to 

o 

I- 

OS 




220 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Don't think there's always safety, 
Don't suppose you know more 

Than anybody knows 
Who has gone before. 

But when you're warned of ruin 
Beware of what's in store. 



THE PIG AND THE DOG 

O AILORS are very fond of having pet animals on their 
long voyages, for there is so little to amuse them 
that time passes very heavily. On a ship which sailed 
from India to England the sailors had two pets, one a 
dog named Toby and the other a pig. 

You would not think that a dog and a pig would be 
very good friends, but strange to say, these would eat 
from the same plate, lie down side by side in the sun, 
and walk the decks together in the most friendly way. 

There was just one thing which they quarreled about, 
and that was this: Toby had a very nice kennel, which 
the sailors had made for him to sleep in, but the pig had 
none, and he could not understand why Toby should 
have a house while he had to lie out of doors on the deck. 
So he would watch his chance and slip into the kennel 
while Toby was away, and when Toby came home ready 
to go to bed, he often found the pig already there. 

One day the weather was very stormy, it blew hard, 
and the great waves dashing against the ship made it 
roll from side to side. It was also raining hard, so that 



THE PIG AND THE DOG 221 

the deck was slippery. The poor pig was slipping and 
tumbhng about in a very unpleasant way. 

In the afternoon, long before bedtime, he thought that 
the best thing he could do would be to get safely into 
Toby's kennel for the night. He managed to pick his 
way to the kennel, but Toby had the same thought and 
was already in his house. 

Now some people think that pigs are very stupid and 
do not know much, but they are mistaken. The pig 
did not like the idea of slipping and sliding on the deck 
all night, so he set his wits to work to find a way to get 
into the kennel. Of course the hard thing was to get 
Toby out, and this is the way the pig did it. 

He went to the plate where their food was placed and 
carried it some distance from the kennel and yet in sight 
of the dog. He then stood with his tail turned toward 
the dog and began to make a noise as if eating. 

Toby pricked up his ears. The pig put his head down 
to the plate and champed as if he were eating something 
good. Toby thought to himself, ''If there is any dinner 
there, I want some of it." So he jumped out of the 
kennel and went to the plate. 

The cunning pig, who was watching his chance, slipped 
back, dashed for the kennel, and got in before Toby. 
We don't know whether pigs laugh, but if they do, he 
must have had a good fit of laughter when Toby came 
back to his house and tried in vain to get in. 

Of course this was very selfish in the pig, but pigs are 
pigs, and we can't expect anything else from them. 



222 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

Pigs are generally considered and found to be very 
dirty, but that is the fault of their keepers, not of the 
pigs. They would be very glad to get clean straw, clean 
water, clean food, and a clean sty. Then they would 
be cleaner than some children. Nothing pleases them 
better than to be kindly treated. 

It is a great pity that men treat these creatures so 
cruelly in sending them on railroad cars thousands of 
miles without food or water, so that many thousands of 
them die on the way. And it is a great pity that many 
of them are killed in a most cruel manner. In the great 
slaughter-houses of Paris, France, pigs and hogs are 
always stunned by a single blow on the head with a long- 
handled, round, wooden mallet, before they are killed, 
and so they die without knowing that they are to be 
killed, and without suffering. 



DOGS AT WORK 

/^NE of the most distressing sights that travelers see 
^-^^ when visiting some parts of Europe is that of 
wagons drawn by women and dogs. The wagons gen- 
erally contain milk, fruit, or vegetables, and are often 
large and heavy enough to tax a small horse. Some- 
times a woman is harnessed to one side of the wagon 
and a dog to the other side. 

This practise is very common in Holland and Belgiima. 
It is very cruel, for women most certainly are not fitted 
for such work, and neither is man's faithful servant, the 



224 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

dog, who often strains himself to draw the load until it 
seems as if he would drop from exhaustion. 

There are some kinds of work, however, that dogs are 
well able to perform. They do their tasks cheerfully and 
intelligently when they are properly cared for. 

In the Arctic regions, where it is very cold, dogs are 
the most useful. In that country there are great stretches 
of snow and ice for hundreds of miles, and there would 
be no way of traveling but for the dogs, for there are no 
horses or oxen. 

The dogs have collars around their necks and to these 
are fastened ropes about twenty or thirty feet long, which 
are tied to a sledge. It is wonderful what loads they 
can draw and how fast they can travel. Several dogs 
are harnessed to one sledge so that they have plenty of 
company. Sometimes the dogs quarrel and fight and 
get in a bad tangle. Then the driver has to separate 
them and make them behave themselves. 

At night the traveler sleeps in a bag made of warm 
fur and is quite comfortable, but the poor dogs have to 
be content with a supper of frozen fish, and then sleep 
out of doors in the snow. Very often the sharp ice makes 
their feet sore, and they suffer terribly. They have 
a hard life, for besides many hardships from the severe 
climate, they frequently have cruel drivers. 

If you really care about making your dog happy, the 
way to do so is both extremely simple and perfectly 
well known. Feed him regularly and moderately, see 
that his bodily functions go as they ought to go, and 



LOST — THREE LITTLE ROBINS 225 

vary his diet when necessary. Above all, give him plenty 
of exercise, take him out with you into the fields and 
woods — that is what he most enjoys. Keep him under 
a strict and wholesome discipline, for dogs are happiest, 
as men are, when wisely and steadily governed. Our 
caresses ought to be reserved as a reward, not given 
continually till the dog is weary of them. In the same 
way, besides the regular food, we may give occasionally 
Httle morsels out of kindness, just as a friend gives 
us candy now and then. The dog's happiness, like 
our own, is best promoted by activity, by temper- 
ance, by obedience to duty, and by the sort of affection 
that is not out of keeping with perfect dignity, of which 
every noble dog has his full share. 



LOST— THREE LITTLE ROBINS 

OH, where is the boy, dressed in jacket of gray, 
Who climbed up a tree in the orchard to-day, 
And carried my three little birdies away? 
They hardly were dressed. 
When he took from the nest 
My three little robins, and left me bereft. 

wrens! have you seen, in your travels to-day, 
A very small boy, dressed in jacket of gray. 
Who carried my three little robins away? 

He had light-colored hair, 

And his feet were both bare 
Ah! he was cruel and mean, I declare. 



226 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

O butterfly! stop just one moment, I pray; 
Have you seen a boy dressed in jacket of gray, 
Who carried my three Httle birdies away? 

He had pretty blue eyes, 

And was small of his size. 
Ah! he must be wicked and not very wise. 

O bees! with your bags of sweet nectarine, stay; 
Have you seen a boy dressed in jacket of gray, 
And carrying three little birdies away? 

Did he go through the town, 

Or go sneaking aroun' 
Through hedges and by-ways, with head hanging down? 

boy with blue eyes, dressed in jacket of gray! 
If you will bring back my three robins to-day, 
With sweetest of music the gift I'll repay; 

I'll sing all day long 

My merriest song, 
And I will forgive you this terrible wrong. 

Bobolinks ! did you see my birdies and me — 
How happy we were in the old apple tree. 
Until I was robbed of my young, as you see? 

Oh, how can I sing. 

Unless he will bring 
My three robins back, to sleep under my wing? 




WOUNDED LAMB 

Meyer von Bremen 



228 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

LAMARTINE'S LAST SHOT 

T AMARTINE was one of the most distinguished poets 
and statesmen of France. This is how he describes 
his last shot: 

" A harmless happy roebuck bounded joyously over the 
wild thyme on the edge of the wood. Now and then I 
could see him above the heather, pricking up his ears, 
butting in play, warming his dewy flanks in the rising 
sun, and browsing on the young shoots, in his innocent 
sport. 

" I am a sportsman's son and spent my boyhood with 
my father's gamekeepers. I had never thought about 
the brutal instinct that leads man to find amusement in 
slaughter, and to destroy, without necessity, justice, pity, 
or right, animals who might equally claim to hunt and 
slay him if they were as ruthless, well armed, and savage 
in their pleasures as he is in his. My dog was on the 
alert, my gun pointed, the deer right ahead. 

" I did feel a certain hesitation at cutting short such a 
life — such joy and innocence in a creature that had never 
harmed me, and that delighted in the same sunshine, the 
same dew, the same morning freshness, as I did ; I thought 
that perhaps the deer was looking for his brother, waiting 
for his mother, his mate, or her little one. Yet I fired, 
and the roebuck fell, his shoulder broken by the shot. 
His blood reddening the turf on which he vainly struggled 
in his agony. When the smoke cleared I approached, 
pale and shuddering at my misdeed. The poor creature 



LAMARTINE'S LAST SHOT 229 

was not dead. It looked at me, its head sunk on the 
grass, its eyes swimming in tears. Never shall I forget 
that look. It said distinctly, with a heart-rending re- 
proach for my wanton cruelty, ' What are you? I do not 
know you; I never offended you. Perhaps I should have 
loved you. Why have you snatched from me my share 
of sky and breeze, of light and joy and life? What will 
become of my mother, my mate, my fawn, waiting for 
me in the brake? ' 

" This is literally what the eyes of the wounded deer 
seemed to say. I understood and reproached myself as 
if it had spoken with a voice. ' Put an end to me now,' 
it seemed to say by the grief in its eyes and the helpless 
shiver in its limbs. I would have given anything to 
undo what I had done. Alas! the most merciful close 
to my pitiless work was to shoot my poor victim once 
more, and so put it out of its misery. Then I flung the 
gun away, and shed tears of which I am not ashamed. 
My dog knew something of my feeling; he did not stir, 
but lay beside me, sad and abashed, as if he mourned with 
me and the victim of this cruel, wanton sacrifice. 

" I abandoned forever the brutal pleasure of murder, the 
sportsman's savage despotism which, without need, right, 
or pity, takes away the life that he cannot restore." 



I WOULD not hurt a living thing. 

However weak or small; 
The beasts that graze, the birds that sing, 

Our Father made them all. 



230 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

CANON FARRAR AT THE SEASIDE 

TT^REDERICK WILLIAM FARRAR was a close 
friend of Queen Victoria and the royal family. 
He was known all over the world, not only as an eloquent 
speaker, and writer of books, but as a man who saw the 
best in everything. He took the part of poor and unfor- 
tunate people, and of the dumb creatures who cannot 
tell us of their sufferings. 

From the pulpit in Westminster Abbey, Canon Farrar 
once appealed to his people in this way: 

"Not once or twice only at the seaside have I come 
across a sad and disgraceful sight — a sight which haunts 
me still — a number of harmless sea-birds lying dead 
upon the sand, their white plumage red with blood, as 
if they had been tossed there dead, or half dead, their 
torture and massacre having furnished a day's amuse- 
ment to heartless and senseless men. 

'' Can you imagine the hardness, the utter insensibility to 
mercy and beauty, of the man who, seeing those bright, 
beautiful creatures as their white wings flash in the sun- 
shine over the blue waves, can go out in a boat with his 
boys to teach them to become brutes in character by 
murdering these fair birds of God, or cruelly wounding 
them and letting them fly away to wait and die in lonely 
places?'^ 

So this good man spoke of the thoughtless men who 
take pleasure in killing the innocent creatures that God 
has made and placed in the world to enjoy it with us. 



232 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

LITTLE GUSTAVA 

LITTLE Gustava sits in the sun, 
Safe in the porch, and the Uttle drops run 
From the icicles under the eaves so fast. 
For the bright spring sun shines warm at last, 
And glad is little Gustava. 

She wears a quaint little scarlet cap. 
And a little green bowl she holds in her lap, 
Filled with bread and milk to the brim. 
And a wreath of marigolds round the rim, 
'^Ha! ha!" laughs little Gustava. 

Up comes her little gray, coaxing cat. 
With her Uttle pink nose, and she mews '^ What's that?" 
Gustava feeds her — she begs for more; 
And a little brown hen walks in at the door : 
"Good day!" cries little Gustava. 

She scatters crumbs for the little brown hen. 
Then comes a rush and a flutter, and then 
Down fly her little white doves so sweet, 
With their snowy wings and their crimson feet: 
''Welcome!" cries little Gustava, 

So dainty and eager they pick up the crumbs. 
But who is this through the doorway comes? 
Little Scotch terrier, little dog Rags, 
Looks in her face, and his funny tail wags: 
''Ha! ha!" laughs little Gustava. 



LITTLE GUSTAVA 233 

"You want some breakfast, too?" and down 
She sets her bowl on the brick floor brown, 
And little dog Rags drinks up her milk. 
While she strokes his shaggy locks like silk, 
"Dear Rags!" says little Gustava. 

Waiting without stand sparrow and crow. 
Cooling their feet in the melting snow: 
"Won't you come in, good folks?" she said, 
But they were too bashful, and stayed outside, 
Though "Pray come in!" cried Gustava. 

So the last she threw them, and knelt on the mat, 
With doves and biddy, and dog and cat, 
And her mother came to the open house door: 
"Dear little daughter, I bring you some more, 
My merry little Gustava!" 

Kitty and terrier, biddy, and doves. 
All things harmless Gustava loves, 
The shy, kind creatures 'tis joy to feed, 
And, oh ! her breakfast is sweet indeed 
To happy Httle Gustava. 

— Celia Thaxter. 



Every kind word you say to a dumb animal or bird 
will make you happier. 



234 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

HOW ANIMALS MAKE THEIR TOILETS 

"r\ID you ever see a cat wash her face with her paws 
and then clean herself and smooth down her fur 
with her tongue, which is rough and almost as good as 
a clothes' brush? Lions and tigers wash themselves in 
exactly the same manner as the cat, wetting the dark 
India-rubber-like ball of the forefoot and the inner toe, 
and passing it over the face and behind the ears. 

When dogs, foxes, and wolves think it the proper time 
to clean up, they scratch themselves with their front and 
back paws, and seem to feel as much refreshed as if they 
had taken a bath. 

Men who have traveled in the Arctic regions, tell us 
that seals spend a great deal of time in making their 
toilets. Water rats also are very clean animals, and 
wash and brush their faces with the greatest care. 

The elephant has such a thick and hard skin that it 
looks as if it would never need washing, but the elephant 
does not think so, for he takes a bath as often as possible. 
The way he takes it is to fill his mouth with water and 
then spurt it all over himself with his long trunk. 

In certain parts of Egypt there are a great many croco- 
diles; these animals live very largely on fish. They have 
long, pointed teeth, and very often pieces of fish or other 
food get betv/een them. The crocodile cannot use a 
toothpick, so he opens his mouth wide, and a bird called 
the plover files in and picks out the pieces of food, thus 
getting his dinner. 



A FABLE 235 

Mice have long whiskers, which they comb out very 
carefully with their hind legs. 

The cow has a rough tongue, almost as good as a brush. 
She takes a great deal of pains to keep herself clean, if 
she is out in the field where she can do as she pleases. 



A FABLE 



/^NCE upon a time there was a man who lived alone 
^^^ upon a plantation where he might have raised good 
crops if it had not been for the myriads of insects 
which destroyed his fruit and grain. One day, when he 
was looking in despair at his ruined fields, a bird and a 
toad said to him : 

''Let us come and bring our friends to live with you 
and we will save your harvest." 

So the man said, ''Come." 

For a long time all went well. More birds came and 
sang in the tree-tops. Tiny toads hopped about the 
fields in the refreshing summer showers. But the man 
forgot how his friends had saved him, and he grew care- 
less of their comfort. He allowed gunners to shoot the 
birds for their beautiful feathers, and the toads could 
find no place v/here it was safe for them to stay. Then 
the birds and toads said, "We will go away and leave 
you because you have been unkind to us. Others may 
come to take our places. If you drive them away as 
you have driven us away, you will die. Listen, before 
it is too late." 



236 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

But the man laughed to think that his hfe could depend 
upon such insignificant creatures, and he paid no heed 
to their words. The years went on and the fields lay 
bare and desolate under the summer sun. In the deserted 
cabin was no sound or sign of life. Everj^where were 
ruin and decay. But not far away were homes of com- 
fort and peace. In the teeming orchards were singing 
birds that built low in the sheltering branches. In the 
fields the sound of scythe and rake brought no terror 
to the toads, safely housed under boards and stones. 
A starving man came one day to the village to beg for 
bread. 

^'Why is it that you are so poor?" asked the village- 
folk. 

'^Because I drove my friends away and would not 
listen to them," said the beggar. ''Now I have come to 
begin my life again with them and with you." 



There's no dearth of kindness 

In this world of ours; 
Only in our blindness 

We gather thorns for flowers! 
Onward we are spurning, 

Trampling one another! 
While we are only yearning 

At the nan?e of ''Brother." 

— Gerald Massey. 




HER ONLY PLAYMATES 

Heywood Hardij 



238 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

WHAT ARE BANDS OF MERCY? 

r> ANDS OF MERCY are societies of children who 
promise to be kind to animals and to each other. 
These societies were first formed onl}^ twenty-five years 
ago, and yet they have spread all over the country and 
have a large membership. 

They are organized in Sunday schools of all religious 
behefs, and in a great many public schools, not only in 
this country, but in many others. In England the 
Royal Society was founded under the patronage of Queen 
Victoria. Its first president was one of the Queen's 
trusted friends and counselors. 

In Germany one society numbers among its members 
twenty-three generals and over two hundred lesser officers 
in the German army. There are said to be over sixty- 
eight thousand Bands of Mercy in the United States 
and British America, with a membership of over two 
million boys and girls. 

These societies are formed because it is easier to teach 
people when they are young to be kind to animals and 
to one another than it is after they grow up and their 
habits become fixed. Very often a few words of appeal, 
or a little story, will move with pity the heart of a child, 
and make him more kind and thoughtful all his life. 

It is easy to form a Band of Mercy. The children 
sign this pledge: 

"1 will try to be kind to all living creatures, and to 
protect them from cruel usage." 



WHAT ARE BANDS OF MERCY 239 

Then they elect a president and secretary and hold 
meetings, which are made interesting by readings, reci- 
tations, and songs. 

About sixty years ago in a little country schoolhouse, 
nestled among the bleak hills of New Hampshire, there 
was a young lady teacher who had a large and tender 
heart. There were no Bands of Mercy then called by 
that name, but this teacher really had one in her school 
for she taught her pupils that God expected them to be 
kind to all his creatures. 

There was one little boy in her school who never forgot 
her words. When he grew to be a young man, he decided 
to go west to seek his fortune. He settled in Chicago. 
He was honest, hard-working, and faithful to his employers, 
and in time went into business for himself. 

When this boy became wealthy, he did not forget the 
words of his teacher but became one of the organizers of a 
society to prevent cruelty. He was elected state senator 
and helped to pass laws for the punishment of men who 
are cruel to animals. He gave his time and money to 
help the work as long as he lived. 

It all began with the words of the teacher who taught 
this boy when to be kind. Now there, is a great army 
of boys and girls growing up who are ever ready to pro- 
tect the weak and helpless, whether man or beast. This 
is what the Bands of Mercy do. 



240 HEROES AND GREATHEARTS 

THINGS TO REMEMBER 

XTEVER to stick pins into butterflies or other insects. 
Never to carry poultry with their heads hang- 
ing downward. 

That we should protect the cats and dogs from ill 
treatment and give them food and water and a warm 
place to sleep. 

Never to fish or hunt just for sport or use steel or 
other cruel traps. 

When you see any creature abused, you should 
earnestly but kindly protest against such abuse. 

Never to throw stones at those harmless creatures, the 
frogs. 

That nearly all snakes are harmless and useful. 

That earthworms are harmless and useful, and that 
when you use them in fishing they ought to be killed 
instantly. 

That it is very cruel to keep fish in glass globes slowly 
dying. 

That it is kind to teed the birds in winter. 

That you should always talk kindly to every dumb 
creature. 

That you should always treat every dumb creature as 
you would like to be treated yourself if you were in the 
creature's place. 



DEC 5 1911 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



DEC 



« \9t^ 



